A much-hyped matchup between longtime rivals ended in a romp as the Canisius Crusaders defeated the St. Joe’s Marauders by a score of 62-33.
It was a win that was as thorough and dominating for the Crusaders (5-4, 1-1 MMAA) as any, as they took a commanding lead in the first half and never looked back.
“Compared to our last game, in which I thought we played well but just didn’t finish, we came out today ready to go and executed very well – much better than our last time out,” Crusaders coach Kyle Husband said. “It was just one of those games where everything clicked for us.”
It was the second and third quarters in which the Crusaders set themselves apart from the Marauders. In the second stanza of play, the Crusaders went on a tear, outscoring the Marauders 16-9 to give themselves a 33-16 lead and out-paced the Marauders 16-4 in the third quarter to make the score 49-20.
Juniors Nick MacDonald, Jayce Johnson and Ryan Bradley led Canisius with 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, respectively – a sign that the Crusaders didn’t rely on one player to lead them to victory. It was a game in which everyone chipped in.
“It was a total team effort tonight, for sure,” Husband said. “Our ball movement tonight was probably the best we’ve had all season, and it created a lot of open shots for guys.
“We had 18 total assists tonight – which is a really good number for a high school team. That shows just how unselfish of a team we have this year, and hopefully it’ll continue down the road.”
Marauders coach Mark Simon also took notice of the Crusaders’ efforts.
“I thought we could have been a lot better today, but Canisius played very well,” Simon said. “It seemed like everything we tried, they had an answer for, and not one of their players stood out from the rest. They have a very good team, for sure.”
Juniors Jack Capen and Jeremy Johnson paced the Marauders with seven points apiece.
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