Boys: Collingwood vs. David Thompson

Written by Connor Lewis, Argyle Grad 2007

The opening day of the ‘No Regrets’ Tournament was a foggy one in the city but, in the gym, it was clear that Collingwood senior boys were fired up and ready to face-off against their AAAA opponent David Thompson from Vancouver’s east side. Playing on their home court with a “white out” crowd and a marching band entrance had Collingwood charged up and ready to run under head coach Andy Wong.

The high energy of the crowd transferred to the on-court play as the Cavaliers 2-3 zone disrupted the Trojans’ offence. The Cavaliers were able to force multiple turnovers for easy buckets and bust out of the gates to an 11-0 start. The run was capped off by a nasty step-back 3 by Lochlan Collins. The big stage didn’t affect the grade 10 player as he led the way with 10 first quarter points. Collingwood’s defensive rotations and length led to multiple fast break opportunities. The Trojans, however, were able to hang around by playing overall team basketball with great movement, cutting and offensive rebounds leading to easy buckets.

The pace of the second quarter was slower and favored the Trojans. Their 1-3-1 zone was able to disrupt the Cavaliers fast-paced offence and forced them to start their offence late in the shot clock and well beyond the 3-point line. The Trojans were able to work their way to the free throw line multiple times and #23 Dilpreet Badyal was able to carve up the Cavaliers defence for multiple “and-1” layups. The Cavaliers held off the Trojans attack and led at the end of the half by 6 points, 32-26.

The second half started with a much faster pace again, however, this time it was the Trojans showing defensive intensity and forcing turnovers for easy baskets. Collingwood went cold from the field and the Trojans Janmark Pama sliced and diced his way to a couple of sweet buckets. The Cavaliers’ lead was cut to 2 points. That was the closest the Trojans would get as Brodie Jacobs decided to take the game into his own hands. Jacobs went on an individual 7-0 run, which swung the momentum back in Collingwood’s favour and they never looked back.

The fourth quarter was led by the second units for both teams. There was great individual effort to get to the rim from the Trojans #12, and some great team play on the Cavaliers’ side led by brothers Imraan and Aleem Karmali. Both teams showed great hustle on multiple occasions diving on the floor for loose balls. However, it was the Trojans who showed their ‘Achilles heel’ early and the Cavaliers were able to expand their lead.  The final score in the game was 78-50 for the Collingwood Cavaliers. Look for David Thompson playing tomorrow at 4 pm against Argyle Secondary and Collingwood Cavaliers playing tomorrow at 7:30 pm against Seycove Secondary.