Complete domination for Canisius

When I went down to interview Canisius head coach Kyle Husband following his Crusaders' complete dismantling of Nichols, I didn't even bother to ask him if this was a statement game, or revenge from last season's season-ending loss to the Vikings in the Manhattan Cup semifinals.  I got the answer to that question before the game's first quarter ended.  Then it was re-affirmed in the second quarter.  When the teams came out of the locker room after halftime, the Crusaders were still seething.  From the opening shot - a 3-pointer buried by LaTerrance Reed - to the final horn to end the game, Canisius was on a mission.  Between the utter domination on the court and the Blue Crew (CHS student section) responding to every chant from Gang Green (Nichols student section) with "this is our house", the only thing they didn't do to send a message was rip the Vikings' Manhattan Cup Championship banner from the wall before they left.  

 

Reed scored 23 of his game-high 24 points in the first half, which included a three-point play and five 3-pointers (one became a four-point play), as Canisius built a 47-20 halftime lead, en route to a 74-36 victory over the host Vikings.  

 

"Tempo was the key word throughout practice yesterday", Husband said following the game.  "Getting out in passing lanes, play tough defensively, and keep attacking offensively".

 

That's a subtle way of saying what the packed crowd at Nichols witnessed.  Canisius gave up no easy baskets in the first half and allowed just four field goals, forcing the Vikings to earn the majority of their first half points from the charity stripe, while completely disrupting their offense.  Then on the other end of the court, Canisius moved the ball swiftly and decisively, and seemed to attack with a purpose.

 

"It helps when you make shots and we did that early.  They were open looks too, we passed the ball really well", Husband said.

 

Justin Jones scored 10 of his 13 points in the first half, with eight of those coming in the second quarter, as he attacked the basket and embodied the Crusader energy that was so tempo-setting throughout.  Josh Huffman added 12 points for Canisius with three field goals, including a trey, and went five of six from the stripe.  Another Crusader who stood out all game was Madut Ayiy.  The junior provides Canisius with length inside, but last night at Nichols, he was far more than a tall player in the post.  Ayiy ran the floor well to stay in constant good position defensively and was key to limiting the effectiveness of the bigs from Nichols.  He blocked shots, altered countless others, kept the boards clean, and even showed efficiency on the offensive end when given the opportunity.

 

"He just keeps coming along, it was the best game he's played and I think he's going to be really good" Husband said of Ayiy.

 

Coming off a pair of losses at the Georgetown Tournament in NYC and another at the hands of Troy, this type of win may be just what Canisius needed as we get into the heart of high school basketball season here in WNY.  The Crusaders have the first of two rivalry games coming up this Saturday at St. Joe's, before hosting WNY's top ranked small school, Park, on Tuesday.  It's also worth noting that the inspired performance last night came without the services of TJ Wheatley, who is expected back soon.

 

For Nichols, last night was just not its night.  To put it in perspective, only one player, Chris Miner, scored more than one field goal in the game.  I don't think last night's loss will define the Vikings, and I certainly don't think we saw the best they had to offer.  They will get 10 days off to disect what needs to change for the defending Manhattan Cup champs, before visiting St. Joe's on January 16th.  The rematch between the Vikings and Crusaders is set for Tuesday, February 3rd at Canisius.

 

Miner finished the game with 17 points for Nichols.

 

-centercourt

Comments

[StateChamps2003]

I was pretty excited for this game when I marked it on my calendar back in December but the end result was nothing like the hype of the game. This game was so lopsided that I actually felt bad for Nichols and left early.

The player that stood out the most was obviously Laterrance Reed. This was the third time I've seen Canisius play (Kearney and J-Town) this year and each time I come away with being more impressed by Reed's play. This guy would be a superstar on any other team in WNY and in my mind he's a top 3 guard in the area surpassing the likes of Percy Bryant (4th team All CC), TC Brown (5th team) and Devin Morris (5th team). He reminds me a lot of Aaron White except with a much better jump shot. He's fast and strong with the ball.

I said before the game that the Nichols guards were going to have a difficult time getting the ball up court against Reed and Huffman and after Nichols' best guard, Serotte, got his 3rd foul in the 1st quarter, things began to unravel even more.

Nichols just could not get into their half court set at all. Canisius was playing an aggressive "in your face" man-to-man and Nichols players were receiving passes 25 feet away from the hoop and had hands in their faces the whole game. When Nichols did get inside the paint, Canisius was fouling them and making them work for every point.

There was a stretch of 1-2 minutes in the 2nd quarter where the tallest player on the court for Canisius was Justin Jones (6'2" at best) and Nichols had all three of their big men on the court and Nichols couldn't even inbound the ball or get the ball past half court. They couldn't take advantage of what I thought was there number #1 strength in their length and height at all and their 2-3 zone was pitiful with Canisius getting easy buckets and easy passes between defenders.

[hoopster]

A lot of accurate descriptions of last night's game. Stated simply it was a barn yard brawl and Canisius took Nichols to the woodshed and whipped them BIG TIME. Fortunately they'll have another opportunity to show there's some fight in that dog. The next game will be a character defining one. As with the Champ all I could watch was just over 11/2 quarters before leaving to grapple with some wings at Duffs, which I'll add was far more enjoyable.

[centercourt]

Can we all agree that StateChamps2003 needs to comment a lot more?

That analysis was outstanding. If I need to, I'll start picking you up on my way to games.

[StateChamps2003]

haha! I only attend the games that are convenient to my location...city of Buffalo and close suburbs.

I'm debating between MEC @ McKinley and Walsh @ Park for Friday. I'll def be at the Park @ Canisius game next week.

[centercourt]

The Yale Cup game will be much more competitive. I'll see you there. And I'll definitely be at the Park @ Canisius game next week as well. I guess you're officially my new color guy.

[PJB]

City of Buffalo has cancelled all after school activities for today 1/8/15

[PJB]

I was not at the Canisius game, but I've seen Nichols a number of times this year and they don't do a very god job of using there size. They play Schmitt and Lewis on the perimeter way too much and don't get Minor the ball nearly enough on the blocks. Most of Minor's contributions offensively comes on putbacks. I understand that with their guard situation, Lewis needs to handle the ball, but once its over half court they need to stop dribbling the ball 20 feet from the basket trying to go on on one, and run some plays to get the ball to the bigs in scoring position. They would be tough for anyone to stop in a high-low game.

Also StateChamps I agree that Reed is a better shooter than White (Reed has become much more consistent this year), Aaron was the best on ball defender in WNY in the past 10 years and Laterrance is not at that level.

[Bball]

Doesnt Nichols have any other options at the guard to free up Lewis?