CRAIG BROOKS
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
The second week of the Men’s Spring League concluded on Thursday, April 25 with a close finish and some strong individual performances mixed amongst some fierce competitive play. This week’s matchups pitted the Alberni Co-op (78) against LB Woodchoppers (68) and Italian Stallions (77) against the Dave Ralla team (76), coming off their bye-week. Ladybird Engraving was on the Week 2 bye.
Alberni Co-op (78) vs LB Woodchoppers (68)
Led by the first half shooting of Ricky Masso (finished with 12 pts) and offensive put-backs by Tyson Davidson (finished with 15 pts), Co-op charged out from the opening tip-off, creating an early 15-2 lead.
Shell-shocked, and in early foul trouble, the Woodchoppers were forced into a very early timeout to regroup. Coming out of the timeout, the Woodchoppers mounted a scrappy and desperate comeback. Isaac Jack asserted himself on both ends of the glass and Trey Bell began hitting from three-point land. As time expired in the first half, a technical foul was called against Co-op’s Jayden Moss, for unsportsmanlike conduct, which allowed the ‘Choppers to cap-off a 12-4 run and close the gap to a one-point half-time deficit, 28-27.
Co-op started the second half much like the first and raced out on a 13-0 run, pushing the pace with fantastic ball movement. Woodchoppers unfortunately were unable to mount a similar comeback and could never close the gap to single digits again.
Jayden Moss and Josh Hobbs led scoring for Co-op with 27 and 16 points, respectively. Woodchoppers scoring was led by two young guns, Trey Bell (21 pts) and Isaac Jack (15 pts).
Italian Stallions (77) vs Dave Ralla (76)
Fans in attendance were treated to a game of offensive swings, where each team inflicted or was victimized by significant scoring runs. Both Ralla and the Stallions tied or exchanged leads several times throughout the opening six minutes of the game. In fact, it wasn’t until the Stallions stampeded on a 15-2 run that the game opened—largely due to their big-men, Skyler Quesnel-Campbell and Sam Wynans, sweeping the glass at both ends. A few timely threes by Ozzie Felsman and Richard Webster allowed Team Ralla to hang around. First half score: 49-38.
The second half saw the Stallions continue to push the pace with lightning quick drives to the hoop by Coby Felsman and Gredy Barney, but this time the Ralla squad had answers. The second half efforts of Kieran Harding and Bobby Rupert helped create back to back runs of 10-3 and 10-0 to make it a one-point game with seconds to go. Despite Ralla’s valiant team effort, the Stallions were able to hold on for the win.
Coby Felsman (31 pts) and Gredy Barney (25 pts) led the charge for the Stallions while Kieran Harding (22 pts) and Ian Samuel (14pts) led for Ralla.
Next games are scheduled for May 2 at the ADSS gym. At 6:30 p.m., Dave Ralla takes on LB Woodchoppers. At 7:30 p.m., Italian Stallions square off against Ladybird.