The GSBA (Greater Sudbury Basketball Association) U15 Storm Boys (coach Michelle) were certainly thankful for their recent in-season promotion.
Still, they believed that a bump of greater than two rungs of the ladder was deserved - and now they are intent on proving why.
The Storm looked more than ready to tackle even greater competition after sweeping a pair of games to mark their entrance to Division "P" play earlier this month.
A strong first half set the tone versus the Toronto Lords as Sudbury rode a 36-20 lead at the break to a 61-34 win. Bently Szwed topped the scoring parade for the Storm, recording 13 points with Kane Flood, Rylan Donnelly and Ethan Adou also all in double digits.
Their second encounter did not start nearly as well as the Storm trailed the North Bay Spartans 18-8 after one quarter of play. Some in game adjustments, including the insertion of an energetic five-man unit off the bench, changed everything.
The deficit was whittled down to a single point at the half (24-23) and the balance of the game was no contest as Sudbury cruised to a 57-36 win. Head coach Michelle Flood noted that much of the credit should be directed to the defensive spark that was provided by Richard Owolabi.
"Richard came off the bench and completely changed the tone with his defensive presence," said coach Flood. "He shut down their biggest threat and created turnovers that helped us shift the momentum."
Beneficiaries of that shift on the offensive side for the Storm included Rylan Donnelly (15 pts) and Will Laporte-Alexander.
This past weekend, the Storm thumped Burloak Basketball 84-15, setting up a meeting of a pair of teams boasting 9-0 records. "I told the boys the team to win this game will be the mentally stronger team," said Flood.
A back and forth affair with AET BallMatics Academy from Toronto with the northern reps posting a 75-62 victory.
"We did not rely on one or two players," said Flood. "I am very proud of the boys. We have been working hard on their mental game and keeping them in control of their emotions."
The Storm have but two games remaining prior to contesting Ontario Cup playdowns in May.
