Bloor's playoffs in jeopardy

[attach]3503[/attach]Bloor Bears senior boys basketball team fought hard to defend their home court but came up short against a much taller Humberside squad on Jan. 25.

The Bears held the lead through the first three quarters. Still, they let it slip away in the fourth, losing 60-46.

Their effort did not go unnoticed, especially by their coach Jason Dawkins.

“The guys worked really hard,” he said. “It’s one of the things that has occurred all the time — we’re winning up to the fourth quarter and then we get a little bit tight and we just can’t get over the hump.”

After letting the Huskies go on a 6-0 run to start, the Bears quickly responded and grabbed the lead.

Bloor’s Kyle Camera went to work inside, out-muscling Humberside’s tall but slim post players. Humberside’s big men just couldn’t match Bloor’s effort in the first half, as noticed by Huskies coach Rob Tallevi.

“Although we had a couple of inches they played really tough inside and they played hard,” he said.

Bloor led 23-21 at halftime and came out of the locker room with energy. They began the second half in an intimidating full-court press amplified by the small gym.

However, the Bears struggled against Humberside’s 2-3 zone as Huskies centre Tobias Surafel racked up block after block.

Both teams went to the foul line often in a chippy affair. Bloor’s Cody Dawkins drew a number of charges at point guard as he tried to get his team back in the game.

As coach of the junior team and son of coach Jason Dawkins, Cody is no stranger to giving directions and was vocal with his team.

“I told my guys you can’t be scared of the big guys,” Cody said.

Humberside’s inside-outside combo of Surafel and guard Nick Szymczyk proved too much to handle for Bloor in the final quarter.

The Huskies started the fourth on a 9-2 run. Szymczyk was a force, getting steals that resulted in easy baskets.

“Our offense usually does come by good ball movement and good player movement and our defence is what helped our offence in the long run,” Tallevi said.

The 14-point loss put Bloor’s playoff hopes in jeopardy. Jason Dawkins will help his team learn from the experience in preparation for their final two games of the season.

“I applaud Humberside, they did a really good job,” he said. “They stuck together, they’re a real strong team and we’ll just get ready for the next game.”