Centennial’s Jack of all trades
Centennial’s Jack Halliday drives to the basket Thursday in action versus Greater Fort Erie at the 41st Annual Niagara Falls Review Basketball Tournament.
Centennial’s senior boys basketball coaches took notice when Jack Halliday arrived at tryouts this fall.
“He has come a long way and, as he has gotten stronger, it has benefited him so much,” Centennial head coach Craig Maltais said. “He has always had the height and this year he came in and he looked bulkier and we thought he was going to be a force down low.”
That has proven to be true as the season has worn on.
“It doesn’t matter if the guy has six inches on him,” Maltais said. “He’s tying them up and he’s competing for every ball.”
The 17-year-old prepared for the season by working out and shooting hoops at the Y in the summertime.
“Last year I didn’t get a lot of playing time and this year I actually wanted to play. I just put the work in,” the Grade 12 student said Thursday, after Centennial opened the 41st Annual Niagara Falls Review Basketball Tournament with a 68-61 victory over the Greater Fort Erie Gryphons.
The 6-foot-3 forward was rewarded for his efforts with a spot in the starting five and he hasn’t looked back.
“He has so much hustle and he is fundamentally sound, especially in the post,” Maltais said. “Every day in practice he is working down there with the other big guys and they are making each other better.”
Halliday saves his best for the most important times of games.
“Jack comes up big in the clutch,” Maltais said. “He grabs those big rebounds and when we need a board, there’s Jack. He’s a warrior for our team.”
Halliday takes a lot of pride in doing the dirty work for his team plus all the little things that don’t show up on the scoresheet.
“I love being physical down low,” he said.
He also doesn’t mind scoring and was kicking himself for missing a couple easy shots late in Thursday’s game.
“I think the nerves got to me a little at the end of the game,” he said. “That’s probably why I missed them.”
He wants to continue to evolve as a player.
“I don’t shoot enough and I want to shoot more,” he said. “Sometimes I pass it out when I should just put it up.”
The Cougars built quarter leads of 19-17, 39-24 and 54-39 before the Gryphons came roaring back and made a game of it in the final quarter.
“We started to get going a little bit in the second half and we started to slow them down,” Fort Erie coach Dave Adamek said. “We were a little rusty, but everybody is and it’s fair.”
Adamek sees items his team needs to work on, but he’s happy with its progress.
“I like where we are despite the loss,” he said.
Maltais expected the Gryphons to give his team a good test.
“It is the second time we have played those guys and it is always fun,” he said. “It was close both times, they are a good team and they showed it in the fourth quarter.”
Centennial will play Saint Paul in the semifinals Friday at 11:30 a.m. while the Gryphons will battle Westlane in consolation play Friday at 8:30 a.m. All games are at Westlane.
STATS PACK
Cougars 68 Gryphons 61
Niagara River Lions Players of the Game: Centennial’s Ryan Stark and Greater Fort Erie’s Micah Stewart.
For the Centennial Cougars: Reese Radobenko 20; Ryan Stark 15; Nick Yioldassis 10; Jack Halliday 10; Jonah Preston 7; Anthony Perna 4; Jorden Brewster 2.
For the Greater Fort Erie Gryphons: Austin Ladouceur 26; Stewart 18; Zachary Tyrell 7; Avery Steinback-Parker 4; Novontay Brown 2; Joseph Paonessa 2; Warkentin 2.
MARAUDERS 71 NAVIGATORS 62
The A.N. Myer Marauders advanced to the Review semifinals with a 71-62 victory over the Niagara Christian Navigators Thursday at Westlane.
The Marauders built quarter leads of 15-12, 38-21 and 54-45 en route to the victory.
Scoring for A.N. Myer were Cormac McMahon (18), Noah Sharp (13), Nick Murdaca (12), Matt Garrett (11), Kory Costantino (5), Christian Kuriata (4), Caleb Kim (3), Davis Gollert (2), Adam Lamb (2) and Jorge Rodriquez (1).
Replying for Niagara Christian were Rock Laniyi (18), Neil Wangler (13), Days Williams (9), Joshua Etigwe-Uwa (8), Jason Lau (7), Winson Xiao (4) and Ambrose Woo (3).
Players of the game were McMahon and Laniyi.
Myer advances to play Saint Michael in the championship semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday while Niagara Christian and E.L. Crossley square off in the consolation round at 10 a.m. All games are are Westlane.
