Peacock JV Boys Post Second Win
They may have been running a short bench but the Peacock Toilers Boys JV team played their entire bench on route to a 61 - 56 victory over top of the Briercrest Christian Academy JV team.
Attended by about 60 people the game saw spectators - especially the Peacock Toilers senior boys team who popped in from practice - go wild as the JV team drained basket after basket in the second quarter.
The crowd was especially wild when fan favourite grade nine student Odin Graham drained a long distance three pointer in the flurry of baskets.
The Cougars had an even shorter bench than the Toilers and made effective use of their timeouts and player substitutions.
Toilers Allan Lu (right) guards the Cougars Caleb Chan
The Toilers would trail the Cougars 18 - 13 after the First Quarter.
With the crowd erupting combined with coach Danny Mullens strategically utilizing his bench the Toilers caught wind in their sales and the team exploded in the Second Quarter.
The Toilers would outscore the Cougars 25 - 14 in the quarter for a 38 - 32 lead at halftime.
Action from the second quarter when the Toilers dominated play
The Third Quarter saw the Toilers at one time up by 11 points only to see the Cougars gnaw the score to a one point margin at the end of the quarter.
The quarter saw many of the Toilers attempt individual efforts to score three pointers only to miss and have the Cougars improve defence come up with the ball and break down court for a basket.
The score at the end of the third quarter was Toilers 47 and Cougars 46.
Cougars caleb chan (left) is pursued by the toilers Jeremy Dyck
The Fourth Quarter was tough for the Toilers whose characteristic strong defensive play disappeared for a majority of the final ten minutes of play.
With just over a minute left in the game the Toilers defence erupted as they fought hard in defensive rebounding.
After a feverish series of rebounds the Cougars did not score and the Toilers ended up with the ball.
The Toilers would repeat the feat with just under 30 seconds of play to record the hard fought 61 - 56 victory.
Toilers Anthon Avery (left) is blocked from shooting by the Cougars Johnathan Cara
For Toilers head coach Danny Mullens scoring a win after the semester end exam break was a good feeling.
“It feels good. It feels good,” Mullens said.
Asked about the key play of the game - a defensive rebound situation that the Toilers swatted at the ball at least five times and finally came up with it with just over a minute remaining - he said the defence came back at a key time.
“I would have to say the defence leading up to that was lacking. We just couldn’t box out and Caronport was much more aggressive than we were but towards the end it came together for our guys,” he said.
A third quarter rebound scramble at the Toiler’s basket won by the Cougars
Asked about how offensively the Toilers game changed - moving from passing the ball to individual efforts to score three pointers with the Cougars coming up with the ball.
“I think sometimes we get a little bit more greedy than we should be. We should be passing more and we just think we are going to shoot this one because we feel good,“ he said, adding “because we feel good we are going to take more risks.”
Many of those shots were defensively rebounded by the Cougars’ Josiah Poettcker.
The Cougars’ Chris Chabe lent a lot of muscle both defensively and offensively.
Cougars Caleb Chan looks for a teammate down court to pass to
Asked about the win after losing by single digits to the Cougars he said it’s part of the team’s progression.
“We have progressing throughout the year and our guys are understanding more and they’re digging deeper as a team. It’s starting to show more and more on the court. It’s exciting to watch,” Mullens said.
Players being away had an effect on the team he said because “the bench isn’t very deep.”
Asked about the Toilers senior boys sneaking over from their practice to raucously cheer on the JV squad Mullens said he was of two minds on it.
toilers Mohammed abdi is double teamed by the Cougars Chris Chabe and Brylee B
“It’s nice to have the support but it’s also intimidating. But I noticed some of our players stepped up and were draining some big buckets. So it’s a win-win either way I guess,” he said.
“It’s fun to have them there I know they were excited for our boys.”
The win gives the Toilers JV Boys team a 2 - 5 record.
The loss gives the Cougars JV Boys team a 1 - 6 win.
