(BOYS) Killarney Cougars team effort too much for WV Highlanders

December 5, 2019

Written by Scott Leigh, Handsworth Grad ‘06

Killarney Cougars v. West Van Highlanders

West Van Highlanders are warming up for their season home opener with a solid crowd of students in the crowd to support this matinee showing. 

Both teams have started the game with high energy, in an attack-first approach. If the first few minutes is any indication of what is to come, expect a marathon out of these young athletes. The Cougars are pressuring the Highlanders and forcing turnovers, leading to transition hoops and open jumpers. The Cougars are up 11-2 early in the first after an aggressive and strong finish by Wesley Dass, #14. The Highlanders are going to have get comfortable being uncomfortable with the ball on the perimeter, as it seems to be the Cougars hunting season early in this contest. In an effort to flip the script, West Van is trying to force the issue inside with easy buckets and forcing Killarney into foul trouble. The speed and athleticism of Killarney is making life tough for the Highlanders midway through the first, giving them a significant early lead of 16 points. Cookies, Cookies, Cookies - looking like an afternoon at Delany’s Coffee House with all the cookies the Cougars are getting over here. To the Highlanders credit their effort has not waned and they are finding open shots, but they will have to start knocking down some of these soon before this game is out of reach. At the end of the first quarter - Killarney 27 : West Van 11.

Dass, #14, for Killarney is dazzling the crowd after a number of acrobatic takes to the rim, finishing one with a nice up-and-under on the far-side. The pace of the game has seemed to slow down in the early parts of this second quarter, with the teams dropping back and each squad settling into their half court offensive sets. You would think this should benefit the Highlanders based on their size, but their shooting will need to improve to make the inside-out philosophy payoff. Roger Zeng, #12 for the Highlanders, knocks down a three from the corner - for the home squad they are hoping this sparks a hot shooting streak for their team to finish off this half. The Highlanders are looking to mix up the pace of the game by moving into a zone D which has at least temporarily caused some confusion for the Cougars. With a few minutes remaining in the half West Van finds themselves down 14. The zone defence is effective, as it has forced the Cougars into settling for deep jumpers, and when they do penetrate they are pushed into the big man Rodrigo Iruretagotena, #14 for the Highlanders. Unfortunately, half court zone defence is only effective when you have time to drop back into the defence, which is only happening about 50% of the time for the Highlanders. At the half the Cougars have 43 and the Highlanders have 26. 

Halftime Fact: West Van has a new scoreboard which looks dynamite, let’s hope the Highlanders can tally some more numbers up there in the second half to give us a competitive finish.

Halftime Fact: Cougars tend to be solitary animals, which is surprising considering the Killarney’s team effort in the first half. 

Halftime Baller Glossary: Cookie = steal

Early in the second half Ethan Lam, #0 for Killarney, appears to be suffering from a significant calf cramp. We have the entire Cougars team carrying him to the sideline. Let’s hope it is not a significant injury, although the Highlanders’ fans do not appear to have any sympathy for Ethan. 

The Cougars have picked up where they left off, pushing the ball in transition and extending their lead through buckets inside. The combination of the attacking transition play of the Cougars and a balanced set of players who can all shoot the three make them very difficult to guard. Killarney extended their lead to as much as 30 points in the latter parts of the quarter. This game may be out of reach for the Highlanders, but it is an invaluable opportunity for the full team to get significant playing time and work on their systems in the very early parts of the 2019 season. The Cougars finish the third Q up 30.

West Van is not going to stop putting forth maximum effort right to the end of this game, but it will not be enough to get the result they were hoping for. In the end the Cougars were able to set the pace of play that benefited them and be the better shooting team - too much to handle for West Van on this day.

Final Score - Cougars 76 : Highlanders 45.

No Regrets.