The Chat senior boys are catching fire at just the right time.
The Eagles won their third consecutive game and fifth in six, beating the Collingwood Cavaliers 64-58 Monday night. Most of the damage was done when the Eagles took a 32-19 lead into halftime.
"We likely played the best half of our season," said Chat coach Sean Smith. "The boys knew we needed to take the game to them right from the tip off, and that's exactly what they did. We had a bit of a letdown in the second half, but when Collingwood pulled within two with four minutes to go, the boys found another gear and outscored them -especially at the foul line in the last minute of play."
All five Chat starters finished in double figures: Avery Payne with 17, Connor (Dub) Weatherston 13, and Connor (MS) Smith, Justin Hickey and Brendan Hickey with 10 each. Connor MS also led the team in rebounds and assists with 10 each. Kurtis Fernandes had seven points, four rebounds and two steals in just 10 minutes of play.
Last Friday (Jan. 14) the Eagles exacted revenge on the Howe Sound Sounders who narrowly defeated Chat in the last two seconds of overtime in the Cougar Classic with a 71-39 victory.
"The boys were very disappointed after Howe Sound went on to win the Elphi tourney. We felt we were the better team, and I think the boys proved it on Friday," said Smith.
Connor Dub had 21 points (along with eight rebounds and six assists), Justin 15, and Avery 14. Jonah Lussier played point guard and led an unrelenting attack. Kurtis, Justin and Brendan led the team in rebounds with 13, 11 and 10 respectively.
Last Wednesday, Chat beat Rockridge 68-56.
"We came out flat and played that way until the boys realized they were going to lose the game and turned it around in the second half," added Smith.
Connor Dub and Avery once again led the Eagles with 16 points apiece, while Kurtis, Justin and Brendan had 13, nine and eight respectively. Justin and Brendan had seven boards each, while Jonah ran the offence with eight assists and three steals.
The Eagles entertained Bodwell Wednesday night (past deadline) and host Pender Harbour today (Jan. 21) at 4 p.m.
The Elphi senior girls have been busy with several league games and exhibition contests.
Elphi lost 58-35 in exhibition play to Mulgrave on Jan. 6. The contest was a decent result according to coach Lynn Moran as the Cougars were missing two top starters. Gillian Sanders with 15 and Karlie Davies with 10 both had great games.
Elphi's first home game was a loss to Windsor, 75-33, on Jan. 10.
"Windsor is a very good team - great to watch as they execute so well," Moran said. "We had a lot of opportunities to score, but had another tough game shooting."
Lauren and Ellen Fallis both scored 11 points, while Gillian added eight.
Last weekend, the Cougars split a pair of exhibition games at Chat, beating King George 46-28 on Friday while losing 58-28 to Eric Hamber on Saturday.
Jessica Monk played great defensively in both games and had 12 points against King George. Lauren was the top scorer in both games with 16 and 12 points respectively.
On Monday night, Elphi locked horns with Chat for the first time this year, winning 41-22 in league play.
Once again Lauren and Ellen led the way offensively with 17 and 16 points respectively while Jessica chipped in with eight.
Taylor Coombs did most of the damage for Chat with 11 points.
The Eagles dropped a 73-34 decision to Sentinel in league play on Jan. 11 and also played King George and Eric Hamber last weekend. Scores from those games were not available.
The Elphi juvenile (Grade 9) boys are alone in top spot in the North Shore League standings with a pair of recent wins.
The Cougars beat Sutherland 50-35 on Jan. 12 and Handsworth on Monday night 53-49. Elphi is 5-0 in league play.
The Cougars also had an impressive weekend, finishing third at a tournament in Burnaby. Elphi beat Burnaby Mountain 48-32, Delta 42-33 and lost by three to Semihamoo.
The Grade 9 girls moved to 2-2 in league play with their second straight win on Jan. 13 as the Cougars picked up a 41-23 win over Collingwood in Gibsons.
