The Paul Kane Blues are hooping it up like champions while going undefeated in 12 games to tip off the season.
Paul Kane is also a lofty 4-0 in metro Edmonton division two men’s basketball with more wins than the previous season after carving up the visiting Salisbury Sabres 73-49 Wednesday.
“This is a great bounce-back season. We’re really thriving as a team,” said Ryan Holmes.
The Grade 11 forward is among five returnees from the 3-8 lineup that finished tied for 10th in the 12-team standings.
“Last year was a building season. We had a lot of young talent who hadn’t played much at this level,” Holmes said. “It’s our year now. We have a great group of guys and we’re working well together. All we need to do is put in the effort and we’ve got it.
“It’s all about the team game, honestly.”
The last game before the holidays showcased Paul Kane’s deep bench as 11 players took turns piling up the points against the overmatched Sabres (2-1).
“We’re doing the best we can and we’ll come back after the break even stronger,” said co-captain Colin Martin, a Grade 12 point guard and third-year senior team player.
Martin drained 11 of his team-high 13 points in the second quarter, highlighted by three three-pointers, as Paul Kane finished the first half with nine three balls from five different shooters for a comfortable 39-21 lead.
A 16-point run after the Sabres opened the scoring paved the way for 19-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter and 11 unanswered points to start the second half made it 50-21 before the Sabres replied with a field goal with 6:58 left until quarter time.
“We played pretty well. Ball movement was really the main point. That was the key to our success the whole game. Down the stretch it really got us a lot of open shots and opportunities,” said Holmes, who dropped 10 of his 12 points on the Sabres in the second half.
Co-captain Jack MacPherson, a 2018 Metro Athletics all-star and U17 Team Alberta forward, tossed in 11 points with five in the first quarter and six in the third quarter during spot duty in what was basically a practice session under game conditions for Paul Kane as head coach Evan Eger awarded quality minutes to everyone at his disposal.
“Our coach told us to start moving the ball more and stop trying to hit open shots. He wanted us to work on new stuff,” said Martin, 17.
Paul Kane was still stoked after winning its second tournament in as many weekends and it was against major competition at the Scona Basketball Classic. The 78-29 walk in the park against the John Maland Wildcats of Devon was followed by top-notch efforts of 78-72 against the host Strathcona Lords and 80-70 against the Edmonton Christian Lions in the final.
“After a big tournament win like that, especially when it was unexpected going into it, it’s really great for the team. It gets the guys going and gives us a lot of momentum that we can carry into the regular season,” said Holmes, 16.
Strathcona and Edmonton Christian are division one teams and at the recent Totem Hoop Classic at Ross Sheppard High School the Lions defeated the division one Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds 74-70 in the final.
“I believe we were seen as the underdog going into the final and we came out and played our hearts out and we didn’t stop working and that gave us the victory. It was very exciting,” said Holmes, who posted 12 points and 11 rebounds against the Lions and MacPherson, the tournament MVP at the Queen Elizabeth Roundtable Classic, racked up 26 points and 20 rebounds.
“We worked really hard on defence. We moved the ball really fast and hit our shots,” Martin added. “We just played our game.”
Paul Kane continued its path of destruction in Monday’s 86-68 road result against the Spruce Grove Panthers (3-1) the defending division two champions.
The next league game is Jan. 7 against the Holy Trinity Trojans (2-0) at 5:30 p.m. at Paul Kane.
