Cyclone subdue Reds
For a soccer player, Jason Carter more than holds his own on the basketball court.
The 16-year-old, Grade 11 student gave up travel ball this season to concentrate on soccer, but is still an important cog for the E.L. Crossley Cyclone.
Carter poured in 13 points to lead the Cyclone past the Denis Morris Reds 50-41 in a championship quarter-final game Thursday at the 64th Annual Welland Tribune Basketball Tournament at Notre Dame.
“I love basketball, but I chose soccer,” Carter said. “It was getting tiring with all the school and the sports.”
Carter has played with Crossley teammate Aiden Belding at the travel level since Grade 6 and last season finished third in the U-16 Division 1 provincial level.
“They are both used to playing high level, competitive ball,” said Crossley coach Aaron Belding, who along with Carter’s father, Jeff Carter, coached both players at the provincial level as well.
Carter, who is a defender in soccer and hopes to gain a scholarship south of the border, does it all for the Cyclone.
“He’s steady and calm. He brings a lot of stability to the floor when he’s out there,” Belding said. “He doesn’t panic under pressure and he’s very good at seeing the whole floor.
“I’m not concerned at all when he’s out there guiding the offence or defence.”
Carter has made a smooth transition from junior to senior, no doubt aided by his experience at the travel level.
“There are bigger players and you just have to run,” he said. “I played at a high level all my life but when you play new people you just have to stick to the basics.”
Carter said the Cyclone were well prepared for the Reds.
“We stepped up during practice. We worked hard and came out and it showed,” he said. “We know they have three really good guys. We knew we had to guard then and play good defence and play our positions.”
The Reds led 37-35 after three quarters before the Cyclone dominated the final eight minutes.
“I’m very proud. It was an excellent game,” Belding said. “We were able to work with some good matchups and execute the pick and roll. We had good intensity all game. You can’t ask for much more than that. We didn’t have any drop off or anything like that.”
Belding said he was particularly curious to see how his club would match up versus the Reds.
“You look around the region and you see The Standard Tournament and other tournaments where they’ve done well. We’re there. We’re competing. It gets us motivated to get to the next level.”
DM coach Randy Conlon lamented his club’s poor shooting in the final quarter where they scored just four points.
“You gotta make shots,” a visibly agitated Conlon said. “No one is trying to miss, so I can’t be mad, but I’m frustrated as hell.
“Hats off to Crossley. They played really good defence and I thought we played really good defence. As a coach when we hold a decent team like that to 50, we should win every single time.”
Cyclone 50 Reds 41
Mountainview Homes Players of the Game: Jason Carter of E.L. Crossley with 13 points and Zubeer Liban of Denis Morris with 10.
E.L. Crossley Cyclone: Carter 13; Aiden Belding 10; Owen Dobbie 8; Carter Teal 6; Josh Lahn 6; Hye-Jun Song 4; Durieal Bell 4.
Denis Morris Reds: Liban 10; Michael Conlon 15; Noah Honsberger 7; Brian Shkabari 7; Thomas Davidson 2.
EAGLES 47 FLYERS 41
The Grimsby Eagles, who dressed only six players Thursday, upset the Eden Flyers by six to advance to the consolation semifinals of the Tribune Tourney.
Scoring for Grimsby were: Jacob Baker (14); Ben Tschovsky (14); Nick Pasaluko (13); Adrian Scocchia (3); Hayden Miller (3).
Scoring for the Flyers were: Kersey Robinson (14): Ashton Nieuwets (11); Charlie Edgar (7); Ethan Maroudas (4); Carter McMaster (3); Peter Pilling (2).
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