NBLC Highlight Games: St. John's vs Sudbury, February 19th
On an unassuming mid-February night, the St. John's Edge travelled to Ontario to take on the Sudbury Five, two teams with similar records they were looking to bolster. They were both looking for a win and, as the final result showed, were willing to fight to the bitter end for it.
The Sudbury Five were sporting a different look on the night, wearing the jerseys of their sister hockey team the Sudbury Wolves, who in turn wore Five jerseys, as part of a charity event. An even bigger story was about to unfold, though.
When the game began, Tyrone Watson and Ryan Richardson combined to give St. John's an early 9-2 lead, after which Braylon Rayson began hitting from outside the make up the difference for the home team. Brady Skeens got Sudbury to within two, but the Edge took a nine-point advantage just before the end of the opening quarter.
JR Holder worked to lift Sudbury at the start of the second quarter, then Jaylen Bland gave them their first lead of the game. As the first half came to an end Junior Cadougan kept the advantage with St. John's, they went to the locker room ahead by three. After Dexter Williams put them up by one, Sudbury led for much of the third quarter until Mike Edwards gave the advantage back to the Edge, who then went eight points clear shortly after the start of the fourth.
After which, there were seven lead changes heading into the final minute, where Sudbury twice led by three points, the first time Karrington Ward got the Edge to within one, and on the second Cadougan hit a clutch three pointer to force overtime. The same thing happened in OT, where the lead constantly swung back and forth between the teams, ending with Hamad Thomas tying the scores once again with a three. Five more minutes were required.
Second overtime began with three lead changes, at the end of which Sudbury were in front and were able to hold on to their lead until the last minute, when Tyrone Watson tied the scores. This was followed by a layup from Coron Williams which put St. John's up by two and with seconds left Josiah Moore missed the last attempt of the game. The Sudbury Five had suffered a heart-breaking defeat on their home court.
A small crumb of comfort was Bryalon Rayson's game-high 27 points, as well as 24 from both Bland and Holder and double-doubles from Skeens and Cornelius Hudson. For the victorious St. John's Edge, Tyrone Watson had 21 points and grabbed 17 total rebounds with Montay Brandon also managing a double-double, 18 points and 16 rebounds, off the bench as they took down their hosts by an eventual score of 122-120.
Picture: John Lappa
