Blue Jags Conclude League Season with Rout of Rams

                  Photo by Mike Edwards

By: Mike Edwards

The SMUS Blue Jags concluded their 2014-15 Victoria Tier 1 League regular season in style Saturday afternoon, putting together one of their strongest offensive outputs of the season in their 86-25 rout of the Mt. Douglas Rams. Lost in the 86 point outburst was an equally strong defensive effort, as the Blue Jags surrendered only 8 points in the final three quarters.

The Blue Jags got off to a rather sluggish start, giving up some easy inside buckets to the Rams in the early going, however some timely transition baskets kept SMUS tied with the Rams at 17-17 after one.

The Blue Jags woke up in the second and created separation from the Rams thanks to a 12-0 run to begin the quarter. After outscoring Mt. Douglas 26-3 overall in the frame, SMUS took a 43-20 lead into half time. Jason Scully led the way at the break with 12 points and 4 rebounds, Jake Wilmott contributed 10 points and Max Pollen added 7 for the Jags.

SMUS took their momentum with them into the second half, continuing to extend their lead after outscoring the Rams by another big margin in the third quarter, this time 29-2. Heading to the fourth, the Blue Jags held a 72-22 advantage. From there it was smooth sailing through the fourth as the Blue Jags closed out the 86-25 victory.

The Blue Jags received contributions on the scoreboard from a number of players on the afternoon. Scully finished as the high point man, posting 18 points and 5 rebounds, meanwhile Liam Catto notched 12 points, 6 rebounds and a team high 6 steals for the Jags. In addition, Wilmott (10 points, 4 assists and 4 steals), David Lee (9 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists), Graeme Hyde-Lay (8 points, 4 assists and 4 steals) and Lucas De Vries (6 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks) also had strong showings. Finally, Matty McColl recorded his first double double of the season, totaling 10 points and 12 rebounds on the day.

“Obviously we had a slow first quarter but we turned it on offensively getting going with a lot of back to back stops and scores.” said Wilmott on the team’s performance, “We outscored them by a big margin in the rest of the game and that speaks to our ability as a team.”

“Looking forward it's going to be very important to try and start our games with the same effort we had after the first quarter today for entire games.”

With the win, the Blue Jags end their Victoria Tier 1 League season with a 10-1 record. The team will now gear up for the last – and most important – stretch of the season. First up is the South Island Tournament hosted by SMUS from February 20-21.