KVHS varsity boys resumed Southern Conference play on Monday with a 90-57 victory over Harbour View Vikings. The Crusaders improve to 3-1 in conference play and 6-1 overall. They are currently tied for first place with Simonds who is also 3-1.
The Crusaders started slow once again, falling behind 10-4 to start the game. The Vikings full court press and half-court zone defense forced the Crusaders into several live-ball turnovers and contested jumpers in the opening five minutes. The Crusaders 2nd unit, however, were able to turn things around, going on a 21-8 run to close of the first quarter for a 25-18 lead after 10 minutes.
The 2nd quarter belonged to senior co-captain Gavin Trites who went off for 16 points in the quarter, stretching the Crusaders lead to 43-24 by half time.
After regrouping at half, the Vikings found their outside shooting touch in the 3rd quarter, scoring 22 points in the quarter including three long range booms from behind the arc. The Crusaders lack of defense didn’t seem to impact their offense however, as them managed to score 26 points themselves for a 69-44 lead after 30 minutes.
The final quarter once again belonged to the Crusader bench mob who held the Vikings to 11 points over the final 10 minutes while scoring 21 points themselves.
Leaders for KVHS were:
- Jonah Peterson with 11 points and was an incredible +29 in just 20 minutes of court time
- Gavin Trites with 27 points on 12 for 19 shooting
- Adam Butler with 11 points and 6 steals
Leaders for Harbour View were:
- Zander Wilkins with 15 points
- Ethan Crowley and Z. Johnston with 13 each
Career Milestone
Senior point guard Ryan Pollard, despite a quiet night by his standards, reached a mini milestone in Monday’s game as he passes Ethan O’Neil (class of 2015) on the career scoring list. Ryan currently sits at 857 points, 29th all time, for his career just two behind Ben Tait (class of 2016) who scored 859 points during his two seasons for the varsity team.
What’s Next
The Crusaders will host Harbour View on Wednesday at 7:30 pm to complete the home-and-home series. The following week they will play a home-and-home series with Saint Malachy’s.