Lightning 72 Raiders 66
What the Lindsay Thurber Raiders lack in height they more than make up for in passion and intensity.
But basketball is a game of height and in the end that proved to be the difference as the Lightning rode six-foot-six Kyle Klootwyk to a 72-66 victory in the Central Alberta zone 4A boys semifinal at LTCHS Thursday.
Klootwyk dropped in 31 points and was the key as the Lightning were able to hold off a the Raiders down the stretch.
“Kyle was fairly dominant tonight while Jon Boutin was also solid the entire game,” said Lightning head coach Stephen Pottage. “Those two were the difference makers. We got some poor performances from some guys and what was frustrating was that for 60 per cent of the game we didn’t look for Kyle inside. Then when times are tough they decide to look for him. He’s our best player and he should touch the ball two out of every three times we have it.”
“Their big guy played well, although I thought we defended him fairly well considering we gave up three or four inches no matter who was up against him,” said Raiders head coach Dwayne Lalor, who has to wonder where all the big men are in a school of 1,800 students.
“Their are some tall guys around, but they’re interested in different activities and you need a passion to play the game at this level. Still it’s kind of bewildering that there isn’t more taller kids. But potentially we have a good crop of kids coming up and we’ll keep working hard and get back in the provincial hunt along the way.”
The Raiders jumped into an early 5-0 lead before going ice cold and watching the Lightning score the next 18 points before the end of the first quarter.
“If we could get those five or six minutes back we’d be a lot better off,” said Lalor.
“That could be my fault as I didn’t get some stuff in early enough the this season. We needed the stuff in sooner so the guys were more comfortable with it.”
Even then Pottage felt the Raiders were deserving of a pat on the back.
“They outplayed us for much of the game . . . they brought a better effort than we did. This is the fourth time we’ve seen them this season and this was their best effort, although I didn’t think we played our best.”
Lalor couldn’t find much wrong with his team’s effort.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the guys,” he said. “There was just that spell when we didn’t score, but the guys can feel good about their effort. But it’s difficult to accept when your goals are crushed right away.”
The Lightning will face the Notre Dame Cougars in a best-of-three zone final with action beginning Tuesday. The second game is Thursday and a third, if necessary, Friday. Notre Dame will decided where the series begins.
Pottage knew his troops need to pick up the pace if they want to advance to the provincials.
“Nothing against Thurber, but we can’t expect to go much further if we give up 66 points to them. Notre Dame has several gifted offensive players which Thurber doesn’t have.”
Boutin added 15 points and Jesse Trieu nine for the Lightning while Jonah Penner dropped in 18 points, Daniel Grenier 15 and Spencer Klassen 10 for the Raiders.
drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com