From the opening tip on Thursday, Howe Sound Secondary’s senior boys basketball team held control against visiting Sutherland.
The Sounders started with a bucket from Anvir Dhesi, who scored on a layup, and never looked back.
“I think we came out and executed in the first quarter,” said co-captain Marco Pascuzzi. “That really set the tone for the game.”
The team gave up few easy shots to the Sabres, as Dhesi and Alex Fujimagari swatted away a few of Sutherland’s first attempts at the basket.
“We all came together at the start,” Fujimagari said. “On defence, we were helping each other out. On offence, we were looking for each other.”
Along with strong interior defence, the Sounders pressed Sutherland at mid-court forcing turnovers, with guard Matias Norambuena leading the charge, scoring layup after layup. On one play, he faked a shot from outside, then wove his way into the key for a layup, to give Howe Sound an early 10-point lead.
As well, the team was able to generate extra scoring chances, with forward Taylan Savjord grabbing rebounds on offence.
After the first quarter, the home led 19-10, though when the second began, both teams were a little sluggish. Sutherland soon started drawing fouls in the paint, which helped to bring the margin to under 10 points.
Pascuzzi then ended a drought for Howe Sound, dropping a couple of three-pointers to widen the lead again. By halftime, the Sounders were up 36-17.
The margin was stretched further at one point early in the third quarter, as Sutherland took almost five minutes to score a basket.
With the gap widening, the Sounders started mixing up their rotation to get more players minutes, and Sutherland responded with a mini run late in the quarter, though Arman Orbay cut to the hoop for a late layup to give the home team a 55-30 lead after three.
Howe Sound did let up a bit through the fourth quarter, as Sutherland started to cut into the lead and force turnovers by employing a full court press. The visitors could never get the margin to within single digits though, and in the waning minutes Howe Sound brought back on most of the starters to hold the lead.
With about 30 seconds left, Dhesi took a pass on a break and tried to get to the hoop for an emphatic dunk but ended up having to grab on to the rim to avoid a defender below, which ended with his getting a technical.
“We did ask you to come with swagger. That’s definitely swagger,” coach Toran Savjord joked with Dhesi after the game.
In North Shore League play, the team is facing schools like Sutherland, Bodwell, Rockridge and Windsor. The Sounders faced some tough tests in tournaments during the early season, though for coaches Savjord and Jens Ourom, the rationale was to use the early games as a learning experience for the team, which is mostly made up of Grade 11 players.
“That’s why we picked the tournaments we did in the beginning of the year,” Ourom said.
