Jonas Emilsson
www.KramMag.com

This time, speed trumped size.

The Western Canada Redmen deployed a blistering fast three-man press for 40 minutes to counter the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldog’s considerable size advantage to claim a convincing 93-69 victory.

Nebojsa Kuljic and Francis Cormier each chipped in with 17 points and Ammon Crowfoot added 16 points to pace the Redmen’s scoring.

University of Calgary bound Brad Clark led all scorers with 20 points, including two massive put-back dunks for the Bulldogs.

Not only did the Redmen spoil the Bulldogs’ perfect record, they also put a damper on night where the home team honoured their graduating players before playing their final home game of the season.

The result makes the North division seeding opportunities interesting a week before the start of the playoffs, with the Bulldogs, Redmen and Notre Dame Pride all still with a fighting chance to grab the number one seed.

The Bulldogs and Pride play on Thursday night to wrap up their regular season.

Monday night’s matchup was a true battle between two contrasting styles.

The Redmen use their smaller lineup to play to an up-tempo, slash and kick style of game to perfection while the Bulldogs like to push the ball quickly up the court to find their big men open for easy buckets.

Coming in, the Bulldogs knew that they would have to dominate inside, and the Redmen were well aware they would need to find a way to keep the ball out of Clark and Company’s hands in order to earn the victory.

“Coming in we knew they were big and tall so the number one thing was to keep them off the boards,” said Kuljic. “We played full-court all game, which is pretty hard but it was necessary. I think we tired them out.”

Early in the first quarter, it was clear the Redmen’s strategy was to deny the entry pass and pressure the ball before the Bulldogs even had a chance to inbound the pass.

For the first half the Bulldogs’ guards were able to cope with the pressure and the result was an exciting, fast-paced first half that ended with a slight 37-36 Redmen lead.

“For our guards it was to pressure their guards.,” said Kuljic. “I think our guard play is better than theirs and getting the ball into the post is much harder when we pressure the ball hard on the outside.”

But the Redmen’s relentless pressure and team speed started to wear down the Bulldogs as the second half progressed.

“It was just quickness and in-your-face, there’s no magic formula for it,” said Redmen head coach Steve Wiebe. “All we ran was full-court, man-to-man pressure and try to get the steal off the second pass. Sometimes our guys were reaching for the ball but they managed to stay fairly disciplined.”

By the end of the third quarter the lead had stretched to 70-54.

The never-ending assault continued into the final quarter, and for a good reason.

When the two teams met earlier in the season during the Top Dog tournament the Redmen held a 20-point lead in the final quarter before the Bulldogs stormed back and almost stole the game.

But this time around, the Bulldogs’ coaching staff must have sensed that this wasn’t their night, and pulled their starters with seven minutes to play.

“I’m a little surprised that they pulled their starters so early considering what they did the last time we played,” said Wiebe.

The two teams have a good chance of meeting each other in the senior boy’s Div I final for a second straight year, which will only fuel perhaps the most intense basketball rivalry in the city.

But the road to the final will be tougher for both teams this season considering the quality of their potential opponents compared to the previous season.

“Right now, Churchill and Western have an absolutely amazing, natural rivalry,” said Wiebe.

The Bulldogs have two games left on their schedule, including a massive game against the Pride tonight.

The Redmen will close out their season with a game against the Lester B. Pearson Patriots, which will also be played tonight.