After two years of being on the outside looking in, the Crusaders clinched a playoff birth with an 89-47 victory over the visiting Harbour View Vikings. The Crusaders improved to 7-1 in league play which guarantees a top-3 seed for the South-West tournament.

Playing their sixth game in six days, the Crusaders had very little bounce in their step tonight and as a result, struggled to find a shooting rhythm all game. Fortunately, they were able to grind out extra possessions with their defense to overcome 35% shooting (31 for 88) night.

Once again the Crusaders got great production from their bench with 35 points and 22 rebounds. All five guys from the “2nd unit” scored at least 4 points and had at one or more rebounds, including the game’s leading bench scorer, Micah Wilson, with 10 points.

The Crusader led 22-13 after the 1st quarter, 46-19 at the end of the 2nd and 60-32 after three quarters.

Leaders for the Crusaders were:

  • Ryan Pollard with 17 points
  • Gavin Trites with 15 points
  • Keegan Miller with 13 points

Leaders for the Vikings were:

  • Gerry Bidgood with 19 points
  • Ethan Crowley with 7 points

What’s Next

The Crusaders get a well deserved day off on Wednesday then travel “in town” to play long-time rival Saint John High School on Thursday evening. The Crusaders won the first league match-up 61-46. With a victory in that game, KVHS would clinch a top-2 finish in the AAA Southern conference.