(BOYS) Zadiks Leads STA to Win Over Highlanders

West Vancouver Highlanders v STA Fighting Saints

December 10, Round 2

 Written by The Shier Sisters

The after-school crowd was back and it was a full house again for this game.  It opened up evenly paced with a 3-pointer and a basket for the STA Fighting Saints followed by back to back baskets from the West Van Highlanders bringing the score to 5-4.  It seemed like it was going to be a close game, but STA quickly picked up steam, and proved they did not come here to make friends.  #15 Declan Cutler showed toughness in the paint and managed to put points on the board despite some tough defence.  After a particularly rough play, Cutler responded with a huge dunk, and the crowd roared. To further the lead, and silence the Highlanders, #11 Jordan Zadiks put up back-to-back 3 pointers.  West Van’s #21, Matthieu Thiel responded with an epic dunk of his own, but even the excitement from the crowd couldn’t bring them in reach of STA who closed out the quarter with a commanding lead of 27 - 13.

STA’s #9, Anthony Settacsi started the second quarter guns blazing, putting up two quick fast breaks for the Saints. Play was back and forth for a few minutes until the Highlanders started to fight back. This time #13, Zeyed Ahmed put up back-to-back 3 pointers for the Highlanders, quickly followed by a couple of points from his teammates, bringing West Van within 8 of the lead.  Unfortunately for them that margin didn’t last long, with STA pulling away and scoring from all over the floor.  Thiel found himself frustrated after two consecutive blocks and took a technical foul after dropping a sly comment to the ref. STA continued to put on a show with great defence, clutch steals, and solid plays from Zadiks, all of which helped get them up 30 points at the half.

The third and fourth quarters were fairly uneventful and more evenly matched, with both teams playing their entire rosters.  Notable crowd favourites from the Saints were #10 Tony Li and and #8 Mark Ababa who kept the fans going to the final whistle.

Final score STA 93 – West Van 59

Player of the Game: STA #11 Jordan Zadiks with 25 points.