The saying is that strong defence wins games and the Vanier Vikings played hard and adjusted their game in order to play better.
Those adjustments against a fast-paced Caronport Cougars team pushed them to a 92-58 victory in senior boys basketball action on Wednesday evening.
“It was a great game. On both sides, we were both scoring and it was the defence that had to pick up and that was the difference,” stated Vikings coach David Tardif.
The first quarter saw the two teams play fast up and down the court, scoring a combined 40 points. The second quarter saw the Vikings out-rebound the smaller sized Cougars, as they were able to capitalize on second and third chances beneath the basket. Vanier also applied a press defence that created turnovers and some easy points.
“We gave up some stuff inside and we weren’t closing out hard on the shooters at times and they capitalized and made some threes as well,” said Caronport’s coach George Willatt. “They had some outside stuff and inside stuff that we didn’t defend very well.”
The Vikings held a 14-point lead at the half time break, but the Cougars were not done competing and had a strong showing in the third quarter. Caronport was able to pull within eight points, but Vanier then adjusted their game, by applying a press and created some turnovers.
“I thought at times we handled the press well…we were patient and looking to pass the ball. At times, we tried to dribble through it and most times that doesn’t work,” explained Willatt. “We had a lot of turnovers and they got a lot of layups at a result.”
For more on this story, read an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.
