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Rams bury Blues

Paul Kane was feeling the Showdown blues in its worst loss of the season Monday in premier men’s basketball. After underachieving as the fourth-place finishers at the 20th annual St.

Paul Kane was feeling the Showdown blues in its worst loss of the season Monday in premier men’s basketball.

After underachieving as the fourth-place finishers at the 20th annual St. Albert Optimist high school tournament, the Paul Kane Blues got beat up by the St. Francis Xavier Rams 97-64 in the metro Edmonton league. The score flattered the home team as the Rams (7-0), ranked third in 4A as the highest seeded Edmonton zone team, punished Paul Kane’s skeleton defence for leads of 27-18 after the first quarter, 48-32 at halftime and 70-49 after three quarters.

Keeping the Rams from scoring 100 was somewhat of a moral victory for Paul Kane’s young line-up.

“It’s disappointing. They’re one of the top teams in Alberta and we were up to the challenge,” said Grade 11 guard Connor Bradley, the only bright light offensively for the Blues with 22 points in a losing cause. “They pushed and pushed and pushed. They just want that ball and they would do anything to get it and we need to learn how to do that too.”

With their best player, Grade 12 guard Kevin Blair flu-ridden on the bench, the Blues struggled to keep pace with the Rams. The Blues needed his athleticism, leadership and razzle-dazzle playmaking skills, especially in the third quarter when they rallied to within 11 points at 55-44 with five minutes left in the third quarter before the roof caved in. The Rams ended the quarter by outscoring the Blues 12-2.

“We just sort of fell apart,” Bradley said. “At times we fought hard and played well but it still wasn’t enough.”

Khalil Bertin sank eight of his 13 points in the third quarter. Tyler Wise added 10 as the big guy continues to impress in a relief role. Omid Qaderi, earning starter’s minutes in place of Blair in the backcourt, had seven points.

“That was probably the best defence we’ve played against so far,” said Bradley, who nailed three of his four three-pointers in the first quarter.

The Blues were coming off a 2-2 showing at the Showdown, with losses of 88-64 against the Scona Lords in the semifinals and 82-71 against the Grande Prairie Tomahawks for third place.

“It was good to play against Scona and Grande Prairie. They were high level teams to help us get ready for SFX and I thought we were ready to go today,” Bradley said.

The Blues started the 16-team men’s draws by defeating the Wetaskiwin Sabres, ranked 10th in 3A, 72-69 and the Bedford Road Redmen of Saskatoon 89-46.

“We definitely had a lot of energy going into the Scona game,” Bradley said. “We played well against them but not for the whole game. Once they started knocking down their shots that was pretty much it for us.”

In the final, Scona, an honourable mention in 4A, edged out the Bert Church Chargers of Airdrie 88-87. The Chargers, ranked ninth in 4A, prevailed in the semifinals against Grande Prairie 71-55.

In the playoff for third place that featured two unranked 4A teams, the Blues let the game slip away from them after halftime.

“We had a great first half and for some reason we couldn’t keep it going in the second half,” Bradley said. “We still haven’t played a whole complete game yet.”

At the Totem Hoop Classic in December at Ross Sheppard High School, the Blues dropped an 84-74 decision to Grande Prairie.

“It was mostly the same story. In the Totem we had a great first half too and then we had a crappy third quarter.”

Going into Tuesday’s home game against the Ardrossan Bisons (2-5), ranked 5th in 3A, the Blues were 5-2 in premier and 11-9 overall. The score was unavailable at press time.

“We’ve got to refocus and come together as a team,” said Bradley, 16.

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