Flyers defeat Dragons in Sr. Boys basketball barnburner

Sr. Dragons vs Flyers

Chris Davis

St. Michael's Senior Boys Dragons hosted their F.P. Walshe Flyers (Fort Macleod) counterparts for a rousing game of basketball at the Dale Wentz Memorial Gymnasium on the evening of December 9.  It was the second game of the 2014/15 season for the Dragons and the first for the Flyers.

The Flyers proved, as expected, to be formidable opponents.  The always enthusiastic St. Michael's crowd was treated to a relentless back and forth game, with action and drama to spare.

The Dragons have a big bench this season, with 14 players suited up for this game, compared to a Flyers bench of 10.  The action was brisk from the start, with the Flyers beginning the scoring with a three-pointer.  Lots of back and forth ensued, and about halfway through the first quarter the score was tied 12-12, which turned out to be the only time a tie happened in this game.   The Dragons seemed to be still finding their feet to some degree, and the more intuitive teamwork of the Flyers made a difference on the board, 14-20 Flyers at the end of the quarter.  Three pointers came from Flyers Shody Perry (two of them) and Aiden Kidd.  The Flyers went uptown in the second quarter, increasing their lead with basket after basket, including a nice three-pointer from Cole S, and at the half they were ahead 37-24.

Levi Root snags the ball for the Dragons

The losses kept mounting for the Dragons into the third quarter, and at one point they were behind 26-40.  Then something seemed to click with the team, and they began to surge on the court and on the scoreboard, making up for lost time.  Scoring three pointers were Jake Varley of the Dragons and Aidan Kidd of the Flyers. With the score at 55-46 for the Flyers at the end of the third it was not all sunshine and roses for the Dragons, but they were still in it.  They continued their impetus into the final quarter, and at one point they were only 3 points behind the now-flagging Flyers at 54-57.  Back and forth it went, and now we were seeing two evenly matched teams scuffling hard for the win.  With 1:57 remaining the Flyers were only ahead by five points, 65-60, but they made the most of those last couple of minutes, surging to win it 72-63.  Another three pointer in there for Aidan Kidd, and two for Mitchell Zoratti of the Dragons.

Flyer Dylan D. with the ball

A great game, way more exciting than one could expect this early in the season.

In the end the Flyers won the game 72-63, but the Dragons made them work hard for the victory.

Mitchell Zoratti (#4) vies for the ball

Top scorers for the Dragons:

Mitchell Zoratti - 21

Justice One Owl - 14

Jake Varley - 12

Shody Perry of the Flyers gets airborne

Top scorers for the Flyers:

Aidan Kidd - 21

Shody Perry - 16

Rylan Clarke - 8

Players of the game as chosen by the coaches of both teams were Mitchell Zoratti (Dragons) and Aidan Kidd (Flyers).

Dragons vs Panthers

On December 4 the Dragons hosted the Crowsnest Pass Panthers, winning by a convincing 78-31 margin.  Top scorers in that game for the Dragons were Mitchell Zoratti with 20 points, Michael Svab with 15 points, and Justice One Owl with 13 points.  Top scorers for the Panthers were Ty Anctil with 12 points, and Gage P. and Matthew K. with 5 points each.  Players of the game as chosen by coaches from both teams were Mitchell Zoratti and Michael Svab (Dragons) and Ty A. and Jeri M. (Panthers).

2014/15 Chinook Basketball League:

Crowsnest Consolided High School

Livingstone School

St Michael's High School

Matthew Halton High School

Piikani School

Kainai High School

FP Walshe High School

JT Foster School

County Central High School

Noble Central School

Coalhurst High School

Related link/source: www.chinookbasketball.weebly.com