Led by Hegwood, Posein, Johnson Trio, Bishop Grandin Takes Down Winston Churchill

NPH TOP PERFORMERS

BISHOP GRANDIN

• John Hegwood Jr. – 16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 7/12 from field
• Deiter Posein – 16 points, 5 rebounds, 4 blocks, 5/11 from field
• Matt Johnson – 14 points, 8 assists, 0 turnovers, 6/10 from field

 

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL

• Emmett Cook – 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 5/12 from field
• Wesley Chau – 13 points, 4 rebounds, 3/4 from three
• Adonis Monfort-Palomino – 8 points, 5 assists 2/11 from field

 

 

CALGARY,AB-–With the pre-season commencing, some teams are in the midst of tightening up their chemisty; while others are already playing with cohesion.

“We are still messing together as a team, but we are getting stronger each and every second we are on the court together,” explained Bishop Grandin’s John Hegwood.

Although a rather slow start and a rickety performance from Grandin’s Hegwood compared to his last two games. (30pts, 8rbs, 8asts, 5stls & 24pts, 8rbs, 7asts) he, along with Deiter Posein each finished with 16 points to lift NPH #6-ranked Bishop Grandin over Winston Churchill 64-58 in the dying minutes.

“Churchill is a very strong team. They did not make anything easy for us and their intensity was very high. But our team had the focus in the end to pull it out,” #14-ranked, Hegwood told NPH in the post-game.

“We should have a very solid team this year, especially with our talent.”

Even with 16 from Hegwood & Posein, the player that really stood out and easily the player of the game was Grandin’s PG Matt Johnson who had 14 points, 8 assists, 0 turnovers and only four missed shots throughout the contest. He exploited the Bulldogs defence with his speed and either scored or dished out an assist at will.

After a slow start for both teams, Bishop Grandin was up 15-14 after the first quarter. Then to start the second, Grandin’s Johnson scored six straight points and handed out four assists in the first half which resulted in the Ghosts jumping ahead of the Bulldogs 32-18.

However, Churchill made a run to end the half led by guards Wesley Chau and Scott Lamb, who hit two three’s apiece to end the half being down 37-30.

While the Churchill Bulldogs were slowly shifting the momentum in their favor. Grandin’s forward Deiter Posein threw down a big dunk at the at the 7:00 minute mark courtesy of one of Matt Johnson’s eight assists to bring momentum back to the Ghosts.

However, the Bulldogs kept biting at the Ghosts, with Emmett Cook bringing intensity and not allowing for the game to get out of hand. With a few pull up jumpers, a Wesley Chaus third straight triple and a coast-to-coast layup; the Bulldogs were still down 52-44 after the third to the sixth ranked High School team in the country.

In the final quarter, things got chippy and the Bishop Grandin bench was called for a technical; and minutes later Posein’s frustrations got the best of him, also being called for a technical.

This gave the Bulldogs a few extra possessions and they took advantage of it eventually tieing the game at 56 with 2:54 left in the game.

With some crucial turnovers and missed buckets from the Bulldogs, they fell short in the last few minutes. Posein’s final bucket with 20 seconds sealed the game, with the final score being 64-58 in favour of Bishop Grandin.

The Annual HSBC Higher Hoops Basketball tournament starts this week with Bishop Grandin ranked first and Churchill ranked eight, and if both teams win they will meet up once again in the quarter finals but in the Ghosts house. Tip-off would be scheduled for 5:30 MT on December 6th.