Leaving them at the starting gate

  Sturk scores 30 in Parkside's 77-52 semi-final win over Glendale

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

By Rob J. Ross 

ST. THOMAS - Once the Parkside Stampeders busted through the opening gate, there was no way the Tillsonburg Glendale Gemini were about to corral them.

The Stampeders jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the opening four minutes and never looked back, galloping to a 77-52 win, in their Thames Valley Regional Athletics (TVRA) South-East AA senior boys' basketball semi-final, at Parkside Collegiate Institute.

 "We wanted to come out with a lot of energy. We knew if we pushed the ball, we're bigger, stronger than them, we knew we could win this game," said Nick Sturk, who had a game high 30 points, 19 coming in the second half. "Our ball movement, we scored on about 70 percent of our possessions. We got a lot of good looks and we didn't take any poor shots. We had a good game of basketball."

By the end of the first quarter, Parkside was in control leading 20-9. It was 33-19 for the blue and white at recess.

"That was a fantastic game. Our guys came to play. It was all heart and determination. The top eight guys did a very good rotation. When they stepped in there, they didn't lose a step. They kept it going all of the time," Parkside coach Gerald Hikele said. "I was very, very pleased how we executed defence, cleaning the boards up, both offensively and defensively."

Drew Foster and Taylor Robertson, both dumped in 13 points for the Stampeders.

Parkside now meets Woodstock College Avenue Knights, in the South-East final, this Thursday, 4:30 p.m., at CASS. The winner advances to WOSSAA, Thursday, February 22.

The Stampeders finished the regular season first in the South Division, at 8-0, while the Knights placed a top the East, with a 9-1 record.

 "If we come out and play the exact same that we played here, I think we'll do really well," said Hikele. "We'll have to play man (defence). CASS has some very good shooters and we have to stop them. We played CASS once before, so we may have a few surprises for them."

CASS handily won an exhibition game against Parkside early in the season.

In junior action, CASS defeated Parkside, 37-26. The Knights take on the Central Elgin Titans, in the junior AA final. The Titans ousted Woodstock Huron Park, the top team in the East during the regular season, 47-39, in their semi-final.