School Day crowd rocks Meridian Centre

The Niagara River Lions annual School Day Game Friday broke a record and more than a few eardrums.

More than 60 buses transported a record 3,500 kids from 32 schools to the game and the result was predictable. As the River Lions rolled a 99-86 victory over the visiting Calgary Surge, the students, already on a high with the impending end of the school year, cheered practically everything and filled the arena with ear-splitting noise that likely sent a good portion of the 400 grownups in attendance scurrying to the nearest pharmacy in search of headache remedies.

“That was awesome. The energy was crazy and you couldn’t even hear yourself think in there,” said Niagara captain Antonio Davis Jr., who netted 12 points in the victory. “There’s no energy like youth energy. They are so young and so excited to be here and we really fed off of that. Our crowd is usually loud but that was another level right there.”

Davis Jr. agreed it was also a whole new level of shrillness.

“The pitch was so high. When they asked at halftime which schools were there, that was one of the loudest buildings I have heard in a while. I thought the glass was going to shatter.”

Davis can relate to youngsters going to basketball games. He was one year old when he attended his first game and remembers being four or five watching his dad play with the New York Knicks in Madison Square Gardens.

“I feel that is one of the best arenas in the world, if not the best arena in the world. I remember a lot of games in the Gardens.”

He feels basketball and kids are a great fit.

“It is just one of the beautiful things about basketball. These games, of course, are going to be a little different than NBA games but there is nothing like the energy in a basketball arena. It’s all about the energy in the building and the adrenaline it gives you. High school games can be like this, NBA games can be like this and AAU games can be like this.”

Niagara head coach Victor Raso was also astounded by the noise in the building.

“My head is still ringing. I coached in one of these six years ago in NBL days but that was insane. It was end of school year type of enjoyment,” he said. “There was energy to be had out there and it was crazy. I couldn’t talk to the guys and I was screaming as loud as I possibly could.”

Niagara has now gone 5-1 in its last six games since opening the season with three straight road losses.

“We had a rough stretch on the road to begin the season and it really tested us,” Davis Jr. said. “It made us get back to our fundamentals and we got back to what we do well. We have had the same mindset the whole season. We just locked in and turned it around.”

Raso describes his team as being battle-tested after its slow start.

“Nothing we are doing is different. It is the same things we have been doing since training camp. The chemistry is building and it is not just random chemistry,” he said. “It’s disciplined chemistry and adding Khalil (Ahmad) back in made the whole roster better. Without him, guys were playing out of position and the ball wasn’t moving the way it needed to.”

Ahmad got any shot he wanted Friday from the inside and outside as Calgary decided to try and cover him with one player. When the visitors switched to double teaming him in Elam ending time, it created easy looks inside.

“It almost felt like it was too easy for him because his concentration would go at the rim,” Raso said. “It was weird. On one hand, he was playing awesome and on the other hand I was mad at him because they were making life easy for him. It was just give him the ball and he is going to score a bunch of points.”

STATS PACK

River Lions 99 Surge 86

BPSN Player of the Game Niagara’s Khalil Ahmad with 30 points and five assists.

For the Niagara River Lions: Ahmad 30; Jahvon Henry-Blair 16; E.J. Onu 15; Antonio Davis Jr. 12.

For the Calgary Surge: Sean Miller-Moore 23; Stefan Smith 19; Trevon Scott 12.

Game stats: Shooting percentage: Niagara 50, Calgary 45. Free throws: Niagara 18-24, Calgary 12-17. Rebounds: Niagara 33, Calgary 44. Turnovers: Niagara 13, Calgary 23.

Up next: Niagara (5-4) hosts the Ottawa BlackJacks (4-5) Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Meridian Centre.