Colts open league with spirited win over Vikings
The home team was raining threes, opposing players were helping each other off the floor and for a moment, it seemed like things might be different between the Monsignor McCoy Colts and Crescent Heights Vikings boys basketball teams this season.
After a 98-75 Colts win at Crescent Heights Wednesday, however, it was obvious there’s still a lot of work to do if the Vikes are to close the gap with their natural rivals.
“Right off the bat there’s things we’re working on, especially our press,” said coach Sterling Hamilton, noting his team only has four Grade 12’s on the roster. “It’s getting that conditioning and game shape right now.”
Three-pointers from Bryan Cabralac, Gavin Angstadt and three from Niall Weich in the first quarter got Crescent Heights out to an early lead, but McCoy consistently got easy transition buckets to open the Southeast Basketball Conference season in typical fashion.
“I thought our defence was better in the second half,” said Colts coach BJ Melle, who’s got eight seniors. “We’re small, fast, we want to get up down real quick and we knew that was going to come with a lot of mistakes and turnovers as we get used to that style of play.”
There was no lack of energy or sportsmanship in the early stages, as both teams ran with abandon. The sportsmanship wasn’t missing by the end so much as there weren’t as many bodies hitting the deck to pick up as the Vikings threw up desperation shots down by 20.
Chayce Davies led McCoy with 19 points, 11 of those in the decisive third quarter when his Colts went from up three at halftime to a doubledigit margin. Ethan Smith added 12.
Weich had 15 on the night but just two of those points in the second half, as Crescent Heights couldn’t keep up their early offensive output. Centre Chris Gilham added nine.
In the early junior varsity game, McCoy won 92-56. Seth Fandrick had 13 for the Colts, while the Vikings’ Keowen Bos had all 11 of his points in the second half.