THE VIEW FROM CENTERCOURT | Western New York Boys High School Basketball

Weir & MacDonald lead Canisius past Nichols

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centercourt42

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Nichols is a good, young team, and its time may come again in the next two seasons.  Canisius is very, very good, and led by a pair of seniors who each did their part against a scrappy Vikings team, to ensure the Crusaders' mark in the Monsignor Martin Association would remain unblemished.

 

Matt MacDonald scored 15 of his game-high 26 points in the final quarter, and Adam Weir scored 11 of his 21 points during a decisive third quarter run, as Canisius defeated Nichols, 75-63.  The top ranked Crusaders improve to 17-3 overall and 8-0 in the MMA, while Nichols slips to 14-5 overall and 5-3 in the MMA.  All of the Vikings losses this season have been to large schools.

 

Despite seven points from Nichols' Chris Miner in the first quarter, Canisius got a balanced effort and led 11-9 after eight minutes.  After the Vikings briefly gained the lead in the second quarter, the Crusaders increased their lead to 26-23 at halftime.  

 

A basket from Cam Lewis pulled Nichols even with the Crusaders early the second half, before Weir sparked the run that would put some distance between the teams for the remainder of the contest.  Canisius outscored the Vikings, 18-3, during a four minute stretch that began with a traditional three-point play from Weir.  The Canisius College bound senior added a pair of 3-point bombs and a layup during the run that resulted in the Crusaders leading, 44-29.  Nichols had begun to respond before the third quarter ended, when freshman Howard Washington came off the bench to give Canisius back-to-back treys, with the second one being a buzzer-beating heave from inside mid court, giving his team a 50-36 edge.

 

MacDonald's monster fourth quarter thwarted any hopes Nichols had at climbing back into the game.  It included a stretch of three 3-pointers in under two minutes, on his way to 15 points in the stanza, and gave his team its largest lead of the night, 64-45.  The Crusaders buried eight 3-pointers in the second half.

 

Nichols was led by Liam Ryan and Chris Miner, who each scored 16 points.  Cam Lewis scored 15 points and Eric Luko finished with 12 points in the loss.

 

-centercourt

@centercourt42

13 responses to “Weir & MacDonald lead Canisius past Nichols”

  1. at the game Avatar
    at the game

    Nice recap. What impressed me was the way Nichols fought back after that 3rd quarter. I believe they were down 18 at one point and they could have easily folded and lost by 30+. They continued to battle and cut the lead to 8 despite MacDonald’s great shooting in the 4th. I would bet that Husband, Simon and Mihalics are wary of drawing this team in the playoffs. Reinholz has them playing well, and they are a team that won’t quit.

    Reply
  2. MMA Hoops Avatar
    MMA Hoops

    just read a Jerry Sullivan tweet. Matt Hart at Hamilton leading the country in scoring for D III freshman. Wow what a season he’s having!

    Reply
  3. centercourt Avatar
    centercourt

    I saw Matt at the Canisius/Nichols game last night and had an opportunity to congratulate him. It’s so impressive that he’s continued to improve his game and found so much success at Hamilton.

    Reply
  4. Fan at the game Avatar
    Fan at the game

    Matt Hart – one of my all time favorite players. Just can’t help but think he should be playing at some local D1 school. I think the locals missed the boat on this kid. Congratulations Matt, keep making WNY proud.

    Reply
  5. Truth Be Told Avatar
    Truth Be Told

    Matt Hart has the same issue that several talented local players over the years had: that is the lack of size/height. That is the sad part. If he was a two to three inches taller, he would be playing D1 in my opinion. Talking as an old timer, while youth is wasted on the young, size is wasted on many big men. The trouble is that they get the looks and a guy like Hart doesn’t. You can’t teach height!

    Reply
  6. ilovethisgame Avatar
    ilovethisgame

    well said TBT…..it is a game that for the very small…or 1% of players under 6 ft do get those looks.the best way and i think the only way to help overcome lack of hieght would be speed,strength and yes…leaping ability.if you can get up and tap boards out you can soften the load of being looked at a bit more…..of course in my opinion.have not seen alot of “Spud Webbs” roaming the courts much at the D1 level..although im sure there are a select few.

    Reply
  7. Beetlejuice Avatar
    Beetlejuice

    Matt Hart was an excellent player, and another recent grad that I can’t help thinking should be playing D1 ball is Chris Secky. Unlike Matt, Chris actually had the size to be a point guard in D1. And he was one of the best playmakers I’ve ever seen on the hs level. Great football player too. A talent like that should have found his way to a MAAC or MAC school.

    Reply
  8. MMA Hoops Avatar
    MMA Hoops

    Any information on why Chris has not seen more minutes or put up bigger numbers at LeMoyne. Injuries perhaps?

    Reply
  9. Gus Buster Avatar
    Gus Buster

    There were some very solid reasons why Chris did not have an opportunity to D1. No reason though to spell them out here. I haven’t heard anything about him since he graduated. How’s he doing at lemoyne?

    Reply
  10. Walter W Avatar
    Walter W

    Chris Secky | #12 | G | Le Moyne
    gp pts/g fg % 3pt % ft % reb/g a/g
    9 0.9 28.6 0.0 – 0.4 1.6

    Reply
  11. Beetlejuice Avatar
    Beetlejuice

    Yea maybe there were outside reasons why Chris didn’t have the opportunity to go D1. For all I know he chose Lemoyne cause thats where he wanted to go, and if he’s happy its all good. I’m merely commenting on the talent the kid had, not necessarily the kid himself. And that talent was one of the better point guards this area has seen, especially in a small school. Just sayin, having watched my share of point guards last couple years at NU, UB and Canisius games, Chris was better than a third of them, and as good as half.

    Reply
  12. Walter W Avatar
    Walter W

    Bettlejuice, at least Chris Secky’s high school coach had the sense to have him be a point guard.
    Too many high schools coaches in WNY act as if they’re coaching off a chart regarding a player’s height. Most kid’s 6’3″ or better are stuck down on the post because they are tall, even if they have the best ball handling, court vision, and are clearly the team leader on the floor. You see it all the time. playing at a small school made exposure difficult for Chris.
    The big 4 coaches just seem to think thar WNY talent is not as good as other areas and seldom give local talent the benefit of the doubt they can “step up” and play in the conferences they belong to.
    I would hope that at some point local coaches will put their star player’s in a position where they can best help thier team and, yes, the individual players talent help them succeed. If your best ball handler and scorer is 6′ 5″ then he should have the ball in his hands the majority of the time. Why not put the smaller player with good ball handling skills and the ability to knock down triples at the 2 guard? Most of the big point guards you see playing D1 in college were also big point guards in high school.

    Reply
  13. Gus Buster Avatar
    Gus Buster

    Chris was one of the best players we’ve seen recently. He might have had the best high school career of anyone in the last 10 years. It is a huge step though going from Maple Grove to college basketball at any level.

    Reply

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