(BOYS) Carson Graham Eagles soar, defeat Queen Elizabeth Royals
CARSON GRAHAM VS QUEEN ELIZABETH
Written by Larry Donohoe
Well this is different! This is the first time that I won’t be coaching Carson Graham at the ‘No Regrets’ Tournament. Weird feeling, but looking forward to this incredible tournament!
Kirill Deljanin opened for the Eagles and Queen Elizabeth’s Harp Chahal answers back and the Royals with seven straight points take an early lead. This is a big and physical Queen Elizabeth team. Carson Graham’s Weidner with some muscle and their Amanat with a long distance three to tie it up 7-7. The big crowd at Carson Graham is appreciating the effort! A 10-0 run is highlighted by a deep corner three by Steele Curry to put Carson Graham up 14-7 midway through the first. A steel and assist by Jake Oseen (CG) stretches the lead to 10 with 2:16 left in quarter one. After quarter one the Eagles lead 19-12.
The QE Royals started the second quarter with four straight points to close the lead to three. A scrappy start to the second quarter had the Eagles clinging to a close three point lead. Deljanin from the Eagles cracked a four minute scoring drought to extend the Eagles lead to five at the five minute mark. An Oscar Ryan three and four straight points by Deljanin made it 32-20 Eagles. QE’s Rohan Bains hit a big three to bring it back within single digits. Kirill Deljanin continued his scoring ways to get Carson Graham their 12 point lead back with 1:13 left in the second. Two consecutive charges by Jan Dizon of the Eagles secured a 35-23 halftime lead.
Arya Amanat from Carson Graham hit a big three to open up the third quarter followed by a 6-2 run that allowed the Eagles to extend the lead to eighteen. After the quick start the game slowed down a bit with both teams having problems twinkling the twine. The drought ended with a flurry of hoops by both teams but Carson kept a twenty point lead with just under four minutes left in the third. Number 30, Kerrin Bhardwaj, hit consecutive threes to cut the Eagle lead to fourteen points. QE’s Bhardwaj continued to lead with a three- point and-one to close the gap to thirteen but Amanat for the Eagles hit a baseline floater to close the third. Carson Graham 54 Queen Elizabeth 39.
The fourth started off slow with a trade off of single free throws by both teams. A Deljanin offensive rebound and put-back extended the lead for Carson Graham to 18. A Royals 7-0 run brought the Eagles lead down to 11 with 4:23 left in the fourth. With Bhardwaj leading the way, the Royals attempted a furious comeback dropping the lead to 7 points with just over three minutes left. A nice assist by Kevin Pashandi and finish by Weidner stopped the bleeding. Carson Graham was able to hold off any comeback by Queen Elizabeth. Final Score Carson Graham 64 Queen Elizabeth 52.