Express cut White, add Harris to unleash Stutz
A dramatic roster move seems to have paid quick dividends for the Windsor Express.
The Express cut forward Devin White and replaced him with sixfoot-10, 228-pound centre Demontre Harris in order to move Logan Stutz back from centre to his normal position at forward.
“One of our star players was playing at a position he was not traditionally at,” Express head coach and vice-president of basketball operations Bill Jones said. “Now, we bring in a traditional centre.”
Back at forward, Stutz, who was the NBL of Canada MVP two seasons ago, responded with a gamehigh 30 points and 15 rebounds on Sunday in a 99-84 win over the KW Titans in Kitchener.
“It was night and day,” Jones said of having Stutz back at forward. “You take him away from down there (at centre) where he was being beaten up.”
White was among the league’s top 40 scorers with 11.4 points per game and led the team with 8.4 rebounds per game, but Jones said the numbers weren’t enough.
“Devin was one of our highestpaid players and to have that production, it wasn’t good enough,” Jones said.
In his first action, Harris scored just two points but picked up six rebounds in a mere 12 minutes of playing time.
“We see him as being a big player for us,” Jones said of Harris.
Shaquille Keith added 20 points for the Express, who played the second game of a seven-game road trip. Chad Frazier, back from injury, had 14 points while Maurice Jones finished with 12 points and Desmond Hubert came off the bench to score 10 points for the Express (5-6) against the Titans (2-6).
PERROTTE’S VICTORIOUS RETURN
Windsor native Ryan Perrotte had a successful return home in leading his Fort Wayne University Mastodons to a pair of exhibition match victories in men’s volleyball over the St. Clair College Saints.
An Assumption high school product, Perrotte is in his third season as head coach of the Mastodons, who represent Division I Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
Perrotte’s squad took Saturday’s match in three straight games over the Saints at the SportsPlex by scores of 25-15, 25-15 and 25-13. The club also won Friday’s match in three straight games by scores of 25-16, 25-18 and 25-18.
ALFANO HONOURED AGAIN
Belle River native Carly Alfano, a senior defender for Xavier University in Cincinnati, has earned another post-season honour in women’s soccer.
The 21-year-old Alfano, who is a St. Anne high school product, was named a second-team Academic All-American in NCAA Division I women’s soccer.
Alfano, who led Xavier with over 1,800 minutes in playing time while anchoring the middle on defence, has a perfect 4.0 gradepoint average while majoring in biology with minors in chemistry and deaf studies.
Earlier, Alfano was named an All-Big East second team all-star as well as a United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest third-team selection.