Storm get hot from downtown in second half to beat Magic

Tim Kendrick had a message for his Island Storm shooters at halftime of Thursday’s game with the Moncton Magic. His team had just gone 1-for13 behind the three-point line, but only trailed 55-53.

The rookie pro coach went around the dressing room and instilled confidence in his players.

“One of the greatest shooters I’ve seen. One of the greatest shooters I’ve seen,” he said he told his guys. “I’m telling you, there’s no way that we’re going to shoot like that in the second half.”

They responded, going 5-for-8 from downtown in the third quarter and 3-for-7 in the final 12 minutes en route to a

120-116 win— the first pro victory for Kendrick.

“It’s great to get a win for our

team,” he said. “I thought our guys have been really working hard and playing hard and we’ve had a little bit of adversity already.”

The Storm (1-1) took a 91-82 lead to the fourth but the Magic (0-2) refused to go away. “They hit some big shots,” said Magic guard Terry Thomas, who played the past two seasons with the Storm and became a fan favourite. “Their fan base, the crowd in here, which I loved, helped them out and took them straight through and they rode with that.” Thomas was one of four former Storm players wearing the Magic uniform for head coach Joe Salerno, who had been the Storm bench boss for the franchise’s first six seasons.

“It’s a different feeling,” Thomas said. “It was a tough game to play. I love the fans, I loved being here and just to be on the other side, to fight against it, words can’t describe how tough it was.”

Storm guard Chris Johnson was in the middle of a number of big plays during the second half. He hit a big trey, knocked down two free throws with six seconds remaining to ice the game, but it was a pass that may have saved the game. With the Storm up three with about 20 seconds to play the Magic had him trapped in front of the scorer’s table when he spotted centre Zach Valliere alone under the basket for a dunk.

“It’s just about being composed,” Johnson said. “I know that they’re trapping and that’s the least expected pass.” It didn’t surprise his coach. “Chris Johnson is solid in every way,” he said. “He does it all the time. I know we’re early in the season, but I’ve seen him do it before.”