Nova Scotia High School Basketball Under Way! Citadel, Auburn Flex Their Muscle
FOLLOW ARMAAN AHLUWALIA @THEREALBRINDIAN AND NPH @NORTHPOLEHOOPS
HALIFAX, NS–Division One High School basketball in Nova Scotia has officially started. The season started with one of the best teams, Citadel taking on Halifax West, and C.P Allen squaring off against another powerhouse, Auburn.
If there were any doubters about how good Citadel would be, they definitely answered the call with a complete victory over Halifax West who seemed to be lost at times and had trouble against the extreme depth of Citadel. The Phoenix cruised to a 103-31 victory to open the season in front of a very packed Citadel gym.
NPH 2013 #47-ranked Travis Adams and #40- Jayden Nordin lead the charge for the home team, scoring 22 and 17 points respectively. Adams was also able to add 10 rebounds earning a double-double. Nordin also had a strong game and looked comfortable at the lead guard position showing consistent leadership.
Adams was excited to get back on the court and start the season, NPH caught up with him after the game.
“It felt great, I love playing for the name on my jersey, I love the coaching staff. We have two of the best coaches I’ve had over my years of playing basketball. I love my team and I had a lot of fun out there and I can’t wait for the next game.”
NPH was also able to catch up with Nordin after the game about how they played in the team’s performance.
“It felt good, some of us played our game, and some of us need to find our comfort with the team but I’m loving it and I can’t wait four our next opponents.”
Citadel has many weapons including Adams, Nordin, Liam Mitchell, Isaiah Thomas and also having a deep bench which will pose many problems for teams in the future.
Finnbarr Martin played well for Halifax West but was unable to make a significant difference on the scoreboard. He was however able to provide some good minutes and a few blocks that had the crowd cheering.
Acadia’s coaches Steve Baur and Kevin Duffie were in attendance in the fourth quarter along with Axeman players, Shaquille Smith and Anthony Ashe after catching the Auburn / CPA game earlier in the evening.
On the other side of the harbour, Auburn and C.P Allen squared off where the Eagles took care of the younger Cheetahs by a score of 115-82.
Led by NPH 2012 #39-ranked AJ Simmonds and an extremely talented Eagles roster they were able to pull out a victory to start the season in the win column. Simmonds was able to score 20+ points in the victory, Davonte Provo chipped in 14 points respectively.
Auburn looks primed for another title run and will be a treat to watch every game.
On the youthful side, C.P Allen was able to keep pace for a fair share of the game before Auburn took over. 2014 #33-ranked Nick De Palma was able to drop 26 points in his first high school basketball game.
Nick spoke to NPH after the game, “For our first game, I thought we did a pretty good job. Even though we lost, I felt like we learned a few things. Auburn is a tough team, and we never gave up the whole game. For most of us, it was our first high school game so it was good to have that experience. We just need to keep working on some things and I think we’ll have a good season”.
With the first games completed, look out for Citadel and Auburn to battle it out for the top spot in the league. C.P Allen will be a young team, but a team to watch out for as the season progresses.
