(BOYS) Saints Hot, Top Cavaliers in Round 2 Action
St. Georges Saints v Collingwood Cavaliers
December 10, Round 2
Soon-to-be-Pro announcer and Collingwood Grade 11 student Brendan Barone got on the mic to introduce the starting line-ups. Out of courtesy to the visitors he introduced the Saints first but with a very flat and indifferent tone. Comes time for the Cavs and he’s all over it with all the drama and intonation one would use to introduce the Vancouver Canucks. You’ve got the chops BB, see you in the show!
The Collingwood gym is a handsome facility fit for a battle between folks called saints and cavaliers. From the tip-off between each team’s tall guys wearing #23, Saints #4 Jack Vandenberg sped down for a lefty lay-up off a steal. We saw a lot of Vandenberg in this game including, in early play, his conversion of an And-One. A dunk by Saints Will Hyland drove the score to 9-0 and Coach Wong of the Cavs called a timeout to reassure his starting 5. His guard #4 Nic Wrixon, possibly a born shooter, and will no doubt assert himself. A dunk from Cavs centre #23 Anderson Stewart fired up the team
End of Q1 saw Saints up 21-4. The Saints were hot, the Cavaliers not.
Searching desperately for a catalyst here for the Cavaliers. Anything to crack what became a 32-6 lead with seven minutes left in the half. The rim became the Cavs enemy as shot after shot found iron and not net. Surely that last for the whole game…can it? The home crowd was supportive and the Cavs started to stir. A couple of foul shots made and, finally, a 3 from Collingwood’s #1 got them into double digits. Meanwhile Vandenberg and the Saints aren’t exactly dormant. They made a couple of forced and unforced errors but were heavily insulated from the consequences of those by what became a 43-17 lead at the half.
Half-time fact: St. George was a Roman soldier back about 1,800 years ago. He is best known for slaying a dragon (no mean feat to actually find a dragon to slay) and for being an example of military bravery and selflessness – excellent values for team sports.
Bonus half-time fact: a cavalier is a military figure serving on horseback such as the supporters of King Charles I in the English civil war about 450 years ago. Seems like only yesterday.
Half-time comedy: Caught a glimpse of a video on the big screen which included Collingwood players doing impressions of their coach’s distinctive laugh. THAT was funny.
Collingwood opened the scoring in Q3 as the teams traded baskets but trading baskets isn’t what is needed for Collingwood. They need a rime which is about 3 inches wider in diameter. That’s all, no big deal. Wrixon for the Cavs is a good shooter but it was Rim City for he and his teammates. Meanwhile Isaac Brown for the Saints was putting together a pretty good game. A moment of joy just as the quarter ended with Saints #5 Hayden Rogers, the smallest player on the court, who drove the floor to cap the ¾ score at 65-30.
The aforesaid Brendan Barone led the home crowd in a chant of D-Fence, somewhat compromising to his impartiality as an announcer. But he did it well. Meanwhile the Lion’s Gate Bridge was been partially dismantled so that more iron could be shipped up the mountain to the gym for the Collingwood players to hit on their shots. But Wrixon was unflappable. He knew that he had to keep shooting for his team.
Q4 started with a nice basket by Cavs Stewart while some nifty passing by the Saints opened up Blake Wardell for a 3. Stewart had definitely come alive in the second half for the Cavs with a put-back of a missed Wrixon 3.[1] He made a mid-range 2 and got fouled and had a whack of free throw chances that kept the lead at 29. Brown also contributed from the charity stripe. But the Saints were in quick transition all night led by Vandenberg. The game ended with a 28-point margin which meant that Collingwood won the 4th quarter.
Well done Saints and hats off to Collingwood for competing hard.
No Regrets
[1] Editor’s note: In the next game for Collingwood Wrixon hit 7 of 9 shots for 15 points in the first quarter.