Kwalikum Kondors senior boys basketball team survived a late Nanaimo Christian Trail Blazers rally to score a narrow 53-50 win in a North Island League game Tuesday night.
The Kondors led 44-35 in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter but committed too many turnovers that allowed the Trail Blazers to narrow the gap 49-48. The Kondors scored two crucial baskets down the stretch and played well on defence to stop the Trail Blazers. Head coach Taylor Wilson, who told his players to calm down, sighed in relief as the final buzzer went off. He was happy with the win but said they need to work on limiting the amount of turnovers particularly when the game is close.
“It’s all about decision-making overall, where we see passes that aren’t there, it definitely killed us,” said Wilson.
The Kondors didn’t execute well in the first quarter and trailed 13-9.
They were able to turn things around with their inside game, combined it with timely three point shots to end the second quarter with a narrow 26-25 lead. They never gave up the lead again after that.
“We started to get the ball inside instead of settling for shots outside,” said Wilson.
“I told them at halftime that everytime we got the ball inside something good happens.
“They clued in.”
The Kondors improved to 4-1 in the A/AA North Island League.
They will next be hosting Gaglardi Academy on Jan. 28 at the Kwalikum Secondary gymnasium at 7 p.m.
