The St Charles College Cardinals senior boys basketball team were apparently up for the battle as they hosted their first post-Christmas game this past week. At least they were once the Horizon Aigles dragged them into the fight.
A three-point basket from Koen Levasseur to open the second quarter of play gave the visitors a 25-14 lead an advantage that would shrink to just three points (40-37) by the time the half-time break arrived.
Pulling away eventually for a 67-58 victory and improving to 2-2, the Cardinals simply needed to match fire with fire.
"We came out pretty soft and had to work our way back," suggested sharp-shooting guard Peyton Goudreau, recording a total of 13 points after being held scoreless through the opening ten minutes of play or so.
"They were pretty aggressive; more aggressive than I thought (they would be). We finally brought up our aggressiveness on defense, got some rebounds and pushed the floor. And we had to make our threes. We're a big shooting team."
In fact, all but one free throw were points accumulated beyond the arc for Goudreau, who also welcomed teammates Colton Nowoselsky and Kieron Adams to the three-point club.
Still chasing down the likes of the Lo-Ellen Park Knights, Lockerby Vikings and Lasalle Lancers - all undefeated in league play at the moment - the St Charles side still believe they can make some noise come time for the playoffs.
"A good year for us would be a podium finish," said Goudreau. "We are athletic; we have the talent."
Joining Goudreau in double-digit territory for the winners were Kieran Adams (15), Colton Nowoselsky (14) and Brett Rienguette (10), while Koen Levasseur (24) and Cade Kirwan (16) provided the big one-two punch to help keep Horizon close.
Upcoming stories this week on SDSSAA basketball will include tournament recaps from both Ottawa - where the Lo-Ellen Park Knights were part of the 24 team draw contesting the annual Jaguar Classic - and Sudbury, with Lasalle Secondary serving as host school to the 5th Annual Mitch Lalonde Memorial Tournament.
