Comeback falls short for Junior Storm against St. Joseph

By Jeff Morris

Manotick Messenger

Trailing by 16 points in the third quarter, few gave the South Carleton Storm Juniors Varsity Boys Basketball team much of a chance to come back against the St. Joseph Jaguars.

But relentless defence and strong defence allowed the Storm to chip away at the Jags’ lead to one point in the final minute. However, clutch free throw shooting in the final 20 seconds let the Jags escape with a 58-53 win.

The Storm trailed by 12 at halftime and the Jags increased their lead to 16 midway through the third quarter. However, the Storm clawed their way back into the game. James Barney, Griffin Granger and Tyler Jordan controlled the boards on both ends of the court, and point guard Devyn Flanders and Isaac Wilson provided some strong defence.

The fourth quarter began with the storm down by 12, but a pair of baskets on back-to-back possessions by Jordan on offensive rebounds pulled South Carleton to within eight. They kept chipping away at the lead and had two key defensive stops, pulling to within a point with less than a minute left.

St. Joseph, who had struggled at the free throw line, made four in a row in the last minute to pull away for a 58-53 win.

Earlier this week, the South Carleton Varsity team won their second game in a row to start the NCSSAA Tier II Senior Boys Basketball League as they beat Abraar 75-26.

On the ice, the South Carleton Storm has won both of its games in the National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association Boys Contact Hockey League. The Storm opened the season with a 5-0 win over Pierre-Savard in their opener Dec. 3, and then improved to 2-0 with a 4-1 win over Holy Trinity in Kanata Wednesday.

After the break, the Storm are back on the ice Jan. 9 in Stittsville against Sacred Heart.