(BOYS) Queen Elizabeth staves off Salmon Arm in early morning Saturday action

SALMON ARM vs QUEEN ELIZABETH

Written by Rahim Pendleton

The Golds from Salmon Arm face up against the Queen Elizabeth Royals as both teams look to bounce back and gain redemption from tough opening day losses in the tournament. A high energy Salmon Arm team looks to be here strictly for business as they open the game with a suffocating full-court zone defense. Tight pressure and multiple steals in the backcourt lead to a few easy buckets for the Golds. Matthew “Pay the Man” Paiement makes it rain from 3 early and follows up with a hard take to the basket to lead the Golds 11-1 out of the gate.

The Royals look to make adjustments out of a timeout and settle into a 2-3 zone of their own. This proves to be a great adjustment as the Royals force a shot clock violation on the first possession. With both teams settling into zone defenses, the pace has slowed down as each side is taking shots beyond the arc with the paint clogged up. The over eagerness of the Salmon Arm full court press results in a few careless reaching fouls, putting the Royals in the bonus early in the game and allowing them to slowly crawl back via the free throw stripe. The Golds offense continues to get good looks through great ball movement but can’t capitalize on their open shots. Lamba has led the way for the Royals late in the 1st quarter helping tie the game up and erase a 10-point deficit with a beautiful lefty layup through traffic in the lane. The bench is energized by the Royals efforts and shouts of defense echo throughout the gymnasium. A big steal by Gill turns into a race to the hoop and a tough and-1 see the Royals with a resounding 17-point unanswered run to end the first quarter up 18-11.

Salmon arm looked to change the flow by coming out aggressively in the second quarter that nets them 3 quick turnovers and an early 7-0 run to tie the game in the first 2 minutes. The Royals use of inside out ball movement helps them break the zone of the Golds, as Gill gets some easy buckets and second chance points.  The Royals defense has picked up significantly and Jerrin Bhardwaj’s prowess on that end has resulted in two breakaway layups and a big 13-0 run. A well designed inbounds play finds Bhardwaj with an open 3 and a great cross court dime from Lambda gets the Royals anoter bucket to see them to a 37-20 first half cushion.

Halftime Fact: Despite the misleading name, Salmon don’t actually have arms. They have fins. See Finding Nemo for reference.

The beginning of the second half sees Tyler from Queen Elizabeth hit his second big 3 of the game, leaving fans reminiscent of a young Kepkay in his white and blue Royals jersey. The teams continue to trade baskets and play a physical brand of basketball as they look to find any way to the hoop. At the 5:00 minute mark of the third quarter the Royals see their lead extend 48-27.

A quick timeout and a full change of subs for the Golds offers a boost of energy as back to back threes from Jonah Rivett and Andrei Vivar evoke some emotion with simultaneous fistpumps they continue to fight to stay in the game. A hard fought push by the bench does little on the scoresheet as the Royals continue to force turnovers and push their lead to 56-33 to end the 3rd Q

Bhardwaj continues to be a force on the defensive end and seems determined to put the game out of reach as the 4th starts with a couple of early steals and layups. His defense has proved to be the difference in stemming the Golds momentum all game and has surely quelled any hopes of a Salmon Arm comeback. These Salmon have been smoked. Final Score QE 77 SA 53