Peacock And South Hill Tip Off In Junior Varsity Basketball Action
Story and Photos By Robert Thomas
A strong second quarter helped propel the South Hill Royal Falcons to a 49 to 35 victory over top of the Peacock Toilers in junior varsity basketball on Wednesday evening.
Led by 17 points by Matt Aquiavia the team from Cornerstone Christian Scool and Riverview Collegiate were able to fight back a second half Peacock surge.
The First Quarter saw the Toilers take a brief lead with the Royal Falcons fighting back.
The quarter ended in a 12 - 12 tie.
The Second Quarter saw the South Hill squad take control with the team scoring two three pointers.
The Toilers were time and again unable to convert their breaks. Peacock was only able to score a single point.
The score at the half was South Hill 30 and Peacock 13.
The Third Quarter saw the Toilers come out strong both defensively ond offensively.
Defensively the Toilers shut down the pre-planned shots from three point land by Royal Falcons.
The score at the end of the quarter was South Hill 40 and Peacock 29.
The Fourth Quarter saw an initial surge by the Toilers but as the quarter progressed the momentum swung behind the Royal Falcons.
The final score was South Hill 49 and Peacock 35.
Top Scorers For South Hill
Matt Aqiavia 17
Drew Biette 11
Cole Bennalic 8
Cooper Gregor 8
Top Scorers For Peacock
Keaton Doerkson 11
Anthony Avery 8
Dawson Thibodeau 6
Jason Froelich 6
Coaches Comments
South Hill head coach Kalen Senecal said he was happy with how the Royal Falcons played.
“It was a good first game back after Christmas we had the opportunity to come away with the win. Our guys played very hard tonight it was very good to see it,” Senecal said.
“They were passing well, shooting alright and working through our press in a very good way.”
Asked about how hard the Toilers came out at the start of the game he said he wasn‘t.
“They are traditionally a good team They came out with a lot of passion tonight and they had a really good defensive set. We really had to work hard to get every shot on the basket and get every play we wanted to run.”
The second quarter was the key to South Hill's victory.
“We went in a good run in the second quarter and we looked to push the pace a little bit and we had some success with that,” Senecal said.
“We have a team that cam play fast and it’s really nice to have a team that can flip a game in that situation.”
Asked about the third quarter and the Toilers resurgence he said the Royal Falcon weren’t “getting the best shots we were hoping to get in the third quarter.”
“We ran into some issues where a couple of guys weren’t feeling 100 percent and so we had to short change or bench a little bit. We were hoping to just get good plays whenever we can and go from there.”
Despite the loss Peacock Toilers head coach Danny Mullens was philosophical about it.
“It was a good start we just couldn’t hold it together…their number eight (Matt Ariavia) is a good shooter and we recognized that right away and so we tried to get in his face to make it a little bit more difficult for him but he still found ways to do it.”
Mullens said the Toilers had been working hard to improve and despite the loss the team played better than the start of the year.
Arguably the most improved basketball squad up to ths point in the season in both the junior and senior ranks the Toilers’ nain strength is their defensive abilities.
Asked about the third quarter where the Toilers seemingly dominated in both the offensive and defensive roles he said the team watched that.
“Honestly we kept stats and between the third and fourth quarter we held them to 19 points in two quarters. Our guys don't necessarily see the greatness of what they did but they just see they didn’t win,” Mullens said.
The so far winless JV Toilers improvement during the season had them neck and neck against a tough Notre Dame team on Monday with the Toilers failing by five points.
“It only gets better every time we play. We just see little (and continuous) growth with players. It’s coming…we have been working hard. We have just been working hard on having a positive attitude and trying to keep it all about basketball,” he said.
“I am proud of the guys. There is not one second I am not proud of these guys. I just keep telling them to just the ball and if it doesn’t go in well (at least we gave it our best),” he said.
He said some of the players “can see the growth and the improvement just in themselves. For me to be a part of that is very exciting. Peacock is a great school and just to be a part of that in a school in a culture of positive (reunforcement).”
“I just try to play the kids according to their strengths,” he said.
Despite the loss Mullens said the Toilers strengths especially in defense is going to lead to victories.
“Defense is obviously the key gor us and hopefully that will translate to offense and we’ll will get stronger,” Mullens said.
The Toilers now have time to practice as they are not scheduled to play for two weeks.
Next Games
The South Hill Royal Falcons next game is tonight at 5:50 pm at Cornerstone Christian School when they face the visiting Assoniboia Rockets.
The Peacock Toilers JV Team has the next couple of weeks off.
