Spartans slighted by Knights

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

After spotting the Holy Trinity Academy Knights an early lead, the Strathmore High School Spartans battled, but fell late due to the three ball, 87-64 Dec. 21 at the Strathmore High School gym.
“It was nice to finally get in a game that wasn’t a blowout either way. It’s a good learning opportunity and shows that we have a little work to adapt to,” said Spartans head coach Matt Laslo. “We are looking forward to the next time that we meet them.”
The Spartans trailed 45-27 at half, but were ignited in the third quarter by a mini 8-0 run from Isaiah Simwamu and John Le May.
“They’re a couple of Grade 12 guys for us and they know that we need them to be big players for us,” said Laslo.
Offensively, Le May led the Spartans with 21 points on 7-of-19 shooting, while Simwamu added eight points and four boards.
The Knights were too much, both depth-wise and height-wise. Getting full use from their bench, the Knights saw 12 different players record a field goal in the first half, to the Spartans six. The Knights were also lengthy, if not blocking shots, then altering them at the rim.
“I’ve coached against those guys at younger levels for a few years,” said Laslo. “I didn’t remember them being that big when they walked into our gym.”
The Spartans like to start the game with a constricting full court press, but the Knights used their height to pass overtop the press, leading to 29 easy buckets in the first quarter.
“That’s probably my fault. I didn’t make the adjustment out of the press early enough,” said Laslo. “When we switched to our man-defence, our guys really locked in. Our guys worked their butts off, boxing out, rebounding and getting hands up on their shooters.”
Other Spartan scoring came from Ryan Edwards with 11 points, Grade 11 forward Caleb Wilchowy shot 50 per cent from the floor, finishing with nine points, and Caleb Funk added eight points.
Earlier in the week, the Spartans downed the 3-1 Notre Dame Collegiate Timberwolves 73-53.
Off for the holidays, the Spartans resume action Jan. 11 when they host the Oilfields High School Drillers (0-3). Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.