Irish knock off Marauders; Cyclone top Spartans
David Jones was all over the court for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Thursday night.
The 17-year-old, Grade 12 student not only quarterbacked the offence, but also chipped in with 23 points as the Irish topped the A.N. Myer Marauders 75-46 in a quarter-final championship game at Notre Dame.
Jones dominated the game on offence, almost overshadowing a standout performance by teammate Shammar Campbell, who led all scorers with 29 points.
“It feels nice, especially when our team hadn’t been gelling in the first half,” said Jones, who plays for the Niagara Tigers at the travel level. “It was good to get the boys going and be a leader out there.
“I love it.”
Jones enjoys scoring, but also gets satisfaction from distributing the ball.
“I love to score, but I love to pass to my teammates, especially Shammar,” he said. “I do whatever coach tells me to do. I love to run the sets.”
Jones said a good grasp of the game is essential to be able to run an offence properly.
“I think just from a young age I’ve had a pretty good sense of court vision, so I try and use that to my advantage,” he said. “My teammates do a great job of getting open and make it easy for me. They make me look good.”
The defending Irish didn’t hit their stride until the second half.
“The game plan was like it is every game. Get up the court, get the ball into our big man (Campbell),” Jones said. “The first half we didn’t want to play how we wanted to, per se, but coach (Mark Gallagher) really had some words of wisdom at halftime and we really came out pumping in the second half.”
Myer coach Mike Young was thrilled the way his underdog squad competed.
“We were hoping — and I thought we did it in the first half — to match their intensity,” he said. “We’re a really young group with eight Grade 11s and they’re not coming from a tremendous travel background.
“They’re learning how to play with these more physical and assertive opponents and for the first half, I told the guys it was fantastic. They were hanging with a really solid team through hard work and taking care of the ball.”
Young feels the effort will pay dividends down the road.
“We’re coming out of this with a lot of positives. That’s going to bode well for us in our league games and as we go into playoffs and next year. We’re looking at this as a nice stepping stone.”
FIGHTING IRISH 75 MARAUDERS 46
Mountainview Players of the Game: Notre Dame’s Shammar Campbell and Myer’s Nate Lefebvre.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Campbell 29; David Jones 23; Andrew Zezela 15; Austin Cooper 4; Mateo Dave 3; Nelson Collee 2; Will Capes 2.
A.N. Myer Marauders: Lefebvre 5; Noah Sharp 8; Cole Joudrey 7; Jashon Carter 6; Ben Tait 6; Aaryan Siddiqui 3; Davis Gollert 3; Jeff Dai 2; Jordan Hilliker 2; Max Pingue 2; Gee Joshi 2.
CYCLONE 69 SPARTANS 30
The E.L. Crossley Cyclone raced out to an early lead en route to a dominating victory over the Westlane Spartans in a quarter-final game championship at Notre Dame.
“We just want to play everybody the same,” Crossley coach Brian Bleich said. “We got five in and five out and got a rhythm going. The other five are going to help the main five out tomorrow.”
Once again, the Cyclone were able to spread the scoring around with 10 players hitting the scoresheet.
“It’s excellent. It’s an opportunity to get everybody in and feel part of the team,” Bleich added. “It’s a team game and this is a true team. All 11 or 12 players play a lot.”
Mountainview Players of the Game: T.J. Hurley for E.L. Crossley and Waleed Al-Basha of Westlane.
E.L. Crossley Cyclone: Hurley 10; Carter Teal 17; Jason Carter 8; Aiden Belding 7; Donovan Fenton 7; Sam Nawrocki 7; Josh Lahn 5; Owen Dobbie 4; Jacob Paul 2; Hunter Rosell 1.
Westlane Spartans: Al-Basha 10; Enrico Gibson 6; Ravjot Gill 3; Chris Vos 3; Aaron Nguyen 2; Jason Nguyen 2; Jason Firlotte 2; Jacob Marchall 2.
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