The undefeated Paul Kane Blues remain focused on the big picture after beating the Bellerose Bulldogs in Monday’s rivalry game.
“We’re happy to get the W but it doesn’t change anything. We’ve got to keep going, keep working hard and don’t get distracted by our glory because bigger games are ahead of us,” said co-captain Aidan Kelly, after the 15th win without a loss for Paul Kane after the 80-60 decision at Bellerose.
Paul Kane is 8-0 in the metro Edmonton division two league with three games left before the playoffs tip off Feb. 25.
The last senior men’s basketball banner at Paul Kane was 2012 in the premier conference.
“Obviously, it was a good win but we’ve got to keep preparing for the rest of the season. We still have a job to do,” said Kelly, a Grade 12 shooting guard who wired three consecutive three-pointers in the opening three minutes of the second quarter as Paul Kane started to pull away at 29-10.
The loss was the fourth in a row for Bellerose, 2-6 with three games to go to nail down the seventh or eighth playoff berth.
“The way our team is going right now I think we'll be able to get on a good roll,” said Grade 12 post Anthony Tamburrino, who was encouraged by the team’s 29-11 offensive explosion in the third quarter that left Bellerose trailing 63-46 entering the last 10-minute period.
“Definitely we went on a good run and if we could just do that throughout the game there is no question that we can be the top team in the division,” Tamburrino said. “First half our team didn’t really produce offensively and defensively but second half we held them back from scoring and against their defence we broke their gaps quite a bit.”
The first of 14 three-pointers by Paul Kane was the game’s opening basket by co-captain Jack MacPherson as the Grade 12 standout scored 13 of the team’s 20 points to lead by 14 at quarter time.
A barrage of eight three-pointers in the second quarter – three by Kelly, a pair by Roka Phalen-Baker and Jack MacKinnon and one by Ryan Holmes – put Bellerose down and out at 52-17 at the break as the first half ended with 18 unanswered points by Paul Kane.
“We played one of our best halfs of the season. We came out flying because we wanted it really bad,” said MacPherson, who sank 17 of his 27 points in the first half, including two of his four three-pointers.
“We were really excited to come in and play in front of this big crowd. We were really into it at the start and we were all playing really well,” Kelly added.
Slow starts have plagued Bellerose this season.
“Every game our first half hasn’t been as strong as our second and I don’t know if it’s because we’re too scared to produce early on or we’re just not feeling ourselves quite yet. Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure we’ll figure it out,” said Tamburrino, who produced seven points in the first half and 18 overall.
“The shots just weren’t falling for us. They came out hot. They were making shots right off the top and we didn’t make them on the offensive end,” said point guard Nathan Monteiro. “The second quarter it was the same deal.”
Bellerose made it interesting with a spirited third quarter rally.
“We came out with some heat,” said Monteiro, who dropped four three-pointers on Paul Kane during a 15-point onslaught by the Grade 12 Bulldog that turned a blowout into somewhat of a close contest. “It’s kind of the thing we stress. If you’re open and catch the ball and if you want to shoot it, you shoot it. You don’t hesitate. That’s the kind of game we play now.”
Paul Kane was colder than the frigid weather after halftime.
“We really couldn’t do anything. We scored only 11 points in the third quarter. We came out so lackadaisical and let them get a lot of momentum and that really killed us,” MacPherson said. “We got it back a little bit in the fourth but it still wasn’t where we wanted to be and we couldn’t get back to where we were in the first half.
“We’re happy with the W but we’re not happy with how we played the entire game.”
Kelly, 18, agreed. “We came out flat and they stepped up their intensity and credit to them. Nathan played good. Dawson (Murray) played good. Anthony played really good. Conmeju (Fregene) played really well. They all played really well. We just didn’t match their intensity coming out, that’s all it was, and it’s stuff we’ve got to work on.”
Bellerose closed the gap to 66-52 with about seven minutes to play before Paul Kane strung together 11 points on the strength of three–straight baskets by Kelly.
“In the fourth quarter we collapsed again,” Monteiro said. "We kind of just fell apart as a team and we’ve got to work on that for the next game.”
As for the positives in the loss, “Defensively, we honestly did a pretty good job rebounding the ball, it was just putting the ball in the bucket that ended up being our downfall,” Monteiro said. “This game taught us a lot about coming out hot, coming out strong and willing the ball in. If it’s not falling, we will it in and we take it in. It’s what the coach (Jeet Jermana) stresses and we as players stress as well.”
Monteiro, 17, is among nine newcomers on the 12-man roster and the returnees are Fregene, Murray and Ronin Pusch from the 2018 division two finalists – 107-102 overtime loss to the Spruce Grove Panthers – that finished 9-5 under Don Phillips, who is no longer the Bellerose coach.
“The team’s season has been good. We’ve all come a long way playing as a team instead of focusing on individual work. We’ve created a bond that we stick with now,” said Tamburrino, 17, a six-foot-six Bulldog in his first year on the senior squad who split time with the energetic Fregene guarding MacPherson.
“Jack’s a good player," Tamburrino said.
Fregene was going a million miles per hour all over the court when matched up against MacPherson. Fregene also ended the scoring with a thunderous slam dunk that drew the loudest cheer of the night.
While there were fewer fouls than in previous physical confrontations between the teams, even though Holmes had an early night for Paul Kane after fouling out in the first minute of the second half on a play that resulted in an unsportsmanlike foul and technical, it was still a spirited affair with animated banter between the players.
Paul Kane also ended its three-game losing streak in the Battle of St. Albert and the scores were 85-76 last year and 76-61 in 2017 and the 2016 division one 83-77 result. All three games were staged at Bellerose.
“It feels great. I want this more than any game we played so far this season. I’m glad we got it but we’ve got to come back and do better than what we did in that second half,” said MacPherson, 17, a 2018 Metro Athletics all-star and Team Alberta forward.
Today at 5 p.m. Paul Kane hosts the Queen Elizabeth Knights (4-3) and the next game for Bellerose is Monday at the home of the Millwoods Christian Royals (1-6) at 5:30 p.m.
