It has been two months in the making, but KVHS men’s basketball team have their first four game win streak of this very unique basketball season. Last night the Crusaders visited Saint John High School and came away with a hard fought 77-57 victory over the Greyhounds.
Coming off a game where they posted 112 points, the Crusaders faced a different reality on Monday against a very determined Greyhounds squad who physically challenged the KVHS players at the rim and aggressively attacked the Crusaders pressure defense.
As it turned out, the first quarter set the tone for the rest of the game. The Greyhounds started in a switching man-to-man defense, forcing the Crusader into contested perimeter jump shots. The few times KVHS was able to get to the paint, however, they usually faced multiple red and grey jerseys forcing shooters to finish in traffic and through contact.
After a quick timeout to refocus their defense, the Crusaders were able to force Saint John into some turnovers which lead to free throws and a few easy baskets. This allowed the visitors to grid out a 17-13 lead after 20 minutes.
In the 2nd quarter the Crusaders were able to turn up the defensive pressure plus take advantage of Saint John High foul trouble to win the quarter 20-9 for a 37-22 half time lead.
The third quarter was much like the first. A grind-it-out, physical battle for KVHS who could not finish around the rim. Fortunately the Crusaders were able to hang tough on the defense end to tie the quarter at 18 and to hang on to their 15 point lead at 55-40.
It looked like the Crusaders were about to bust the game open to start the fourth quarter. They scored a layup in transition off a turnover by SJHS then followed that up with a three pointer by Adam Butler to push the KVHS lead to 20 points. Unfazed, the home team started hitting from downtown against the Crusaders zone defense to to trim the KVHS lead to just 10 points at 65-55 with about 4 minutes remaining.
That’s when KVHS, as they been able to do most of the season so far, was able to turn up the defensive pressure which lead to a quick 6-0 run forcing the home team to take a timeout to settle things down. Following the timeout the Crusader used their defense once again for another 6-0 run to ice the game and the 77-55 victory.
Leaders for KVHS were:
- Adam Butler with 22 points (10 in the 4th quarter), 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 8 steals
- Liam McKee with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals
- Cole Defazio with 14 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals
- Cohen Fisher with 8 points 12 rebounds
Leaders for Saint John High were:
- Keynan Harvey with 16 points
- Brayden Robinson with 12 points
The KVHS men’s team move to 2-0 on the southern conference “restart” and improve to 10-6 on the season overall.
What’s Next
The Crusader will have a few days to rest and practice then have a tough back-to-back to end the week. On Friday they travel to play Harbour View at 7:15 pm then host the province’s #1 ranked team, Rothesay High Red Hawks, at 3:00 pm on Saturday.