By Caio Miari
The Centennial Colts men’s basketball season kicked off with a 112-75 pre-season loss against the St. Clair Saints on Saturday afternoon at Progress Campus with the team struggling in several aspects of the game.
The Colts never had the momentum on their side, failing to guard the perimeter, as well as taking care of the ball. St. Clair outscored Centennial in every quarter, including a 34-17 advantage in the second.
While Centennial scored just five baskets from the three-point line, St. Clair converted 20 attempts from downtown, with seven different players converting at least one three-point shot.
Only two players topped double-digit points for Centennial: Isaiah Cromwell-Wright led the Colts in scoring with 20, and Kyrin Henlin collected 10 points.
On the opposite side, three players shared a team-best 14 points (David Gomez Jr., Jalen Harmon, and Miles Hall).
From the free-throw line, the Colts were 20-of-29, against the Saints' 22-of-32.
Tyrese McCarty led Centennial among first-year players with nine points, including seven in the second half. Also recent-recruited, Owen Shirley added six points in his first game with the team.
Centennial started the game with a three-pointer by Cromwell-Wright but wasn’t able to keep the momentum, missing its next seven possessions — 0-for-5 from the field and two turnovers.
Even though the first quarter held a close game with St. Clair leading by four (17-13), the Saints’ 34 second-quarter points set the tone for the rest of the action. St. Clair converted eight shots from downtown in the second quarter, three of them from Jesiah Deerr.
In the first two periods combined, the Colts hit just two three-pointers.
Third-quarter was Centennial’s best scoring-wise with 24, but the defence had trouble guarding the perimeter. Another four triples in that quarter still increase St. Clair's scoring advantage by two.
Entering the fourth down 77-54 made things less exciting for the Colts, whose struggles didn’t disappear: They didn’t convert a single three-point shot, while allowing four of them, and scored just six attempts from the field in the last period.
The Colts men’s basketball pre-season will continue at home against the Niagara College Knights on Tuesday, September 24.
Game notes: Colts’ starting five — Josh Sales, Quentin Herbert, Dieu Merci, Isaiah Cromwell-Wright, Darnell Richards.