Rookie leads Cyclone past Raiders
Luke Klassen came off the bench to power the E.L. Crossley Cyclone to a 73-30 win over the Holy Cross Raiders Monday in the opening game of the 58th Annual Standard High School Basketball Tournament.
“Our first line went out there and their shooting was cold,” E.L. Crossley coach Brian Bleich said. “Luke came right on, picked it right up, he got hot and played a great game.”
The Grade 10 athlete earned player of the game honours for his team doing what he does best.
“It’s his ability to read the game,” Bleich said. “His basketball IQ allows his to see the opportunities when he is open and he doesn’t hesitate.
“He’s a natural shooter and he’s got the green light.”
The 14-year-old Niagara-on-the-Lake resident enjoyed his first ever senior basketball game.
“It was a good experience, good competition and good all-around,” the guard said.
Klassen knows he has the green light, but he plans on using it wisely.
“It was what was going on around my teammates and they got me open so I shot when I was open,” the 6-foot-2 player said. “I like to shoot but I also like to playmake as well.”
He is in the gym practising his shot at least three or four times a week and is also on the court with the Pelham Panthers under-15 A team coached by Mike Hurley.
“As an individual, I’d like to earn a starting spot but seniors get that right,” he said.
He also has lofty goals for the Cyclone.
“The goal for this team is to get to OFSAA (Ontario Federation of Secondary Schools Associations championships) but for sure to SOSSA (Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association championship).”
Holy Cross head coach Mike Hendrickse knew his team was in tough against the second-seeded Cyclone.
“They are great shooters and they have some impressive players.”
The focus for the Raiders is to get better every game.
“We have a couple of tournaments lined up, one next week and one in January, and as long as we are playing our basketball by playoffs, that’s our goal,” he said.
The Standard tournament is a chance to work on a lot of different things.
“Our focus was on running our offence, playing aggressive defence, not giving up on possessions, building our team chemistry on the court and rebounding.”
Bleich wasn’t overly impressed with his team’s performance.
“It was a bit of slow start for us, but we just started practising last week,” he said. “We needed to run though some things and we almost treated it like a practice to get things going.”
STATS PACK
Cyclone 73 Raiders 30
Kully’s No Limit Performance Players of the Game: Crossley’s Luke Klassen with 20 points and Holy Cross’ Reuben Eshuis with 14.
For the E.L Crossley Cyclone: Klassen 20; T.J. Hurley 16; Owen Dobbie 11; Aiden Belding 6; Jason Carter 6; Josh Lahn 4; Riley Bleich 4; Carter Teal 2; Hunter Roszell 2; Eli Taylor 1.
For the Holy Cross Raiders: Eshuis 14; Bruce Deluca 8; Eric Randall 5; Sam Trivieri 1; Sebastian Ayala 1; Malcolm Graves 1.
TIGERS 68 NAVIGATORS 39
The Ridley College Tigers moved on to Standard championship quarter-finals with a 68-39 victory over the Niagara Christian Navigators Monday.
Scoring for the Tigers were Adam McDonald (16), Henry Song (16), Ridley player of the game Nolan Crawford (15), Mugina Karugire (11), Valentino Labeja (5), Nnamdi Chibuzor (3) and Sisan Tuedor (2).
Scoring for the Navigators were Neil Wangler (15), Ladi Aganga (9), Navs’ player of the game David Moffat (4), Adam Chan (3), Anthony Molon (3), Ryan Du (3) and Winson Xiao (2).
