Rare loss for the Lions
Green and White Classic senior boys basketball tournament continues today in Peterborough
The Adam Scott Lions senior boys basketball team isn’t used to losing on their home court.
The Lions suffered their first loss at home in two years to Markham’s Middlefield Collegiate in the opening game of Adam Scott’s annual Green and White Classic Friday afternoon. The Lions fell 61-47 putting them in a tough position to repeat as tournament champions.
They rebounded with a 54-36 win over the Crestwood Mustangs Friday night but need a win against Trinity College Saturday morning and to have the best defensive record among the three second-place teams after pool play to earn a wildcard playoff spot. The wildcard team joins the three pool winners for semifinals at 2 p.m. with the final at 5 p.m. at Adam Scott.
The game against Middlefield featured big momentum swings. A three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Lions a 19-14 lead after the first-quarter. They were outscored 21-4 in the second to enter half-time down 35-23. A 12-2 run to start the third drew the Lions within two points and the quarter ended 41-37. Middlefield seized control with a 13-0 run to start the fourth. Raeshawn Washington and Chris Naidu led Middlefield with 19 points each. Zach Deline and Josh DellerHadzi topped the Lions with eight each.
“Middlefield has some athleticism and some size and they love to run,” said Lions head coach Steve Deline. “We didn’t pick up on that defensive transition as well as we should have. The dagger was we got outscored 21-4 to finish the half.”
“It’s nice to see teams from around the province and see what level we need to get to,” said Lions veteran Jack Oatway. “I think it’s a great learning opportunity for us and we can really build from that game. We learned a lot.”
The Lions are the three-time defending COSSA and Kawartha champions but lost 10 of 15 players from last year to graduation. Still, with a strong group of juniors in recent years moving up, the Lions expect to be battling for those titles again.
“A lot of guys moved on this year,” Oatway said, “but we also had a strong core of kids moving up and we really filled the gaps we needed to. Everyone knows their role and works hard and we feel we can achieve anything. It takes time. That’s the process of high school basketball.”
“We are young,” Deline said. “At this stage I keep telling them we’re ironing out some wrinkles. This is the part of the season you want to be able to do.”
Middlefield improved to 2-0 with a 67-42 win over Trinity College. The Thomas A. Stewart Griffins beat the Haliburton Redhawks 58-24 but lost their second game by 12 points to Collingwood who also beat Lindsay Collegiate 59-34.
The St. Peter Saints defeated the Kenner Rams 54-45 but lost 69-26 to Nicholson. St. Michael (Stratford) beat Nicholson 65-33.
St. Michael defeated Kenner 51-14. LCVI beat Haliburton by 22.