On Wednesday, January 16th 2013, the St. George’s Varsity Team faced their age-old rivals, the Vancouver College Fighting Irish.
Before the game had even begun, both fan groups began heckling the teams and each other. On each side, crowds of more than 50 were energized with school spirit.
The Irish started the game off with the first few points, while the Saints slowly caught up. The first quarter ended 21-15 for the Fighting Irish, and by the end of the first half the Fighting Irish still held a comfortable lead of 45-31. After halftime the third period progressed much like how the game had already been going. The third quarter ended with the score of 65-52 for the Fighting Irish, but the Saints were determined to close the 13-point spread.
The final quarter was a completely different game; the Saints had finally switched on. They seemed to have regained their second wind, finally finishing their opportunities on offense as well as contesting for offense rebounds with intensity. With only five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Saints closed the gap to only a five-point difference of 70-65 for the Fighting Irish. As the game approached the three-minute mark, the Saints kept working, and it paid off as the score was only 73-71 for the Fighting Irish. But as the nail-biter of a game came to a close, the Saints had just fell short from getting the “W”, ending with a final score of 75-74 for the Fighting Irish.
Deklan Chung, the Saints team captain and starting point guard had this to say: “As it was the first game against our rival, we knew there was going to be a lot at stake. We tried our best to channel the fan’s confidence into our own morale. At the end of the day we didn’t win, but we have grown as a team. Despite our loss, our confidence is strengthened for what we strongly believe will be a successful season.”
The next game of the series is scheduled for February 12th at St. George’s School. Hopefully the Saints can prove just how resilient they are by bouncing back and grabbing the victory.
