Nova Scotia Punches TIcket to Semi-Finals
TORONTO, ON – The Nova Scotia U17 boys punched their ticket to the U17 semi finals with a sound thrashing of Newfoundland, 86-49 on Thursday evening. Led by Player of the Game Travis Adams’ 14 point, five rebound and six steal effort, Nova Scotia was all over their counterpart from the get-go.
Nova Scotia led 20-15 after one quarter, and widened that margin significantly by half time, running up the score to 48-26. The key to Nova Scotia’s success was their full court press, which seemed to frustrate Newfoundland to no end. Newfoundland committed an astonishing 36 turnovers throughout the game, and gave up 17 points off them.
“Both teams came out nervous,” said Nova Scotia coach Nick Jordan. “So we decided to use the full court press to help generate some offence, and get into the flow of the game.”
The turnover situation for Newfoundland gave their opponent clean looks at the hoop all night long, resulting in three other players joining Travis Adams in the double-digit scoring department. David Benoit pitched in with 11 points, while Jayden Nordin dropped 12 points. Lorenzo Parker had 11 to go along with 10 rebounds, making him the only player to register a double-double for the game.
Interestingly, Nova Scotia only shot 5/16 from the free throw line, and 5/29 from 3-point territory, and yet managed to put up 86 points, which illustrates how significant their transition offence proved to be on what could otherwise be classified as an off-night for their shooting.
Newfoundland was led by Rourke Dawson, who had 10 points, while Jacob Hynes held it down for them in the paint with nine rebounds.
Nova Scotia has a few decent scoring options to go along with their full court press defence, and it will be interesting to see how they match up in their semi final game against Alberta, a team that is more than capable of breaking a press and stretching the defence with its 3-point shooting ability. Another interesting factor will be the size differential, as Nova Scotia’s tallest player is 6’4, whereas Alberta has eight players who are taller than that. Nova Scotia will need strong play from its guards, and a spirited effort on defence if it hopes to advance.
“We know that we have to get through some elite competition, and we’re prepared for that,” continued Jordan.
“Against Alberta we will have to try and limit the impact of their size and quickness and pressure them as much as possible.”
TOP PERFORMERS
Nova Scotia
- Travis Adams: 14 points, 5 rebounds, 6 steals
- Lorenzo Parker: 11 points, 10 rebounds
- David Benoit: 11 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals
Newfoundland
- Rourke Dawson: 10 points
