by Kevin Argus

While most students were thinking about Christmas break or relaxing from a week of stressful finals, the Canterbury girls basketball team had a matchup against state ranked Bishop Chatard (9-1) to worry about on Friday evening. Many of the Lady Cavs were nervous about the game, as Bishop Chatard handed Canterbury its largest loss of the season last year and returned every starter from that team.

The attitude carried over into the first quarter when the Lady Trojans quickly took a lead due in large part to senior Anne Boese’s four three pointers. Lady Cavaliers head coach Scott Kreiger had to call a quick timeout to settle down the young team that had only one upperclassman (senior Aubrey Holle) in the starting lineup. By the end of the first quarter, Bishop Chatard was leading 24-13.

With the first quarter under their belts, the Lady Cavs calmed down and played stifling defense. Canterbury scored nine unanswered points to bring the score to 26-22 midway through the second quarter, giving them life. Bishop Chatard followed the Lady Cavs’ run with a eight point run of their own, and both teams headed to the locker room with the score at 34-24.

Canterbury and Bishop Chatard then traded baskets the entire third quarter, as both teams scored ten points to make the score 45-35 going into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Cavs started the game a little timid but started the fourth quarter like an experienced group of players. Canterbury again showed their grit on the defensive side of the ball and forced many turnovers. These turnovers caused the Lady Trojans’ shooters to lose their rhythm, and Canterbury pulled within three points making a fifteen to eight run. Bishop Chatard was clearly rattled, as coach Kevin Sweeney called timeout with 1:09 left in the game and his team only leading 53-50. A truly veteran team though, the Lady Trojans closed the game out 54-50 with quick and efficient ball movement.

While Canterbury was unable to pull out a victory, they accomplished a great deal as a team. Their defense held Bishop Chatard nine points under their year’s scoring average, and the offense showed improvement as they forced the Lady Trojans to concede more points than normal, as well.

Tabitha Gerardot, Becky Pedro, Aubrey Holle, Paige Wells, and Cassie Kreiger started for the Lady Cavs. Gerardot lead the team with 19 points, followed by Kreiger’s 13. Holle added 9, Kulow had 4, Karr chipped in 3, and Wells scored 2 points. Nakao Mauch also saw playing time off the bench. The loss dropped Canterbury’s record to 6-4 on the young season.

The junior varsity played prior to the varsity and lost by a final score of 37-22.

Both girls teams will return to action in the new year, as they travel to Blackhawk Christian on Friday, January 4. The junior varsity game is set to tip at 6:00 p.m., and the varsity game will begin at 7:30. Directions from Canterbury to Blackhawk Christian can be found through Google Maps by clicking here.

Posted under Girls Basketball | No Comments »

After long layoffs for final exams, both the boys and girls basketball teams play their final games before the holiday break tonight.

The Lady Cavaliers welcome Bishop Chatard to Canterbury School. The 8-1 Trojans are ranked fourth in the state in class 3A; senior Caroline Schutzman averages a double-double, with more than 20 points and 10 rebounds per game so far this season. The 6-3 Lady Cavaliers are ranked tenth in the state in class A, and are led by sophomore forward Tabitha Gerardot (15.9 ppg, 9.6 reb) and senior point guard Aubrey Holle (14.5 ppg, 3.4 apg). The junior varsity game at Canterbury will tip at 6:00 p.m., with the varsity contest to follow at approximately 7:30 p.m.

The boys will look to bounce back from last weekend’s loss to Blackhawk Christian when they travel to 5-2 Warsaw. Senior guard Zach Tomlinson and freshman guard Nick Lewis both average more than 14 points per game to lead Canterbury in scoring, and junior forward Andy Ottenweller (9.0 ppg, 6.8 reb) has developed into an all-around threat for the Cavaliers. The junior varsity game for the boys will tip at 6:15 p.m.; the varsity game will follow at 7:45.

Warsaw Community High School is located at 1 Tiger Lane in Warsaw; you can find directions from Canterbury to Warsaw through Google Maps by clicking here.

Posted under Boys Basketball & Girls Basketball | No Comments »

Statistics for the varsity boys basketball team are now available through the StatsandGo website. Head coach Ben Ottenweller updates the statistics, and you can access them by clicking here or following the link located in the column on the right under “Canterbury Links.”

Posted under Boys Basketball | No Comments »

by Danny McMahon

Yankees vs. Red Sox, Patriots vs. Colts, North Carolina vs. Duke, are some of the greatest rivalries in sports. In boys’ basketball in Fort Wayne, Canterbury vs. Blackhawk Christian has become quite a rivalry itself. Canterbury has not beaten the Blackhawk Braves basketball team in a number of years, and the surging Cavaliers looked to end that streak with win at Blackhawk on Friday. The Braves are ranked #3 in the latest state polls; the Cavaliers remained unranked but were hopeful of making a statement by pulling off the upset.

In the first quarter the Cavaliers looked sharp, being led by senior Zach Tomlinson who contributed 5 points in the first quarter, and the Cavaliers only trailed 15-11. The second quarter was not as good for Cavaliers; the Braves came out sharp on an 11-2 run, and went into halftime with a 31-17 lead. After halftime, the Braves never looked back leading by 20 at the end of the third quarter, and finishing with a final score of 76-46.

On the bright side of the Cavs’ loss is the continuing improvement of their young players. Freshman Nick Lewis scored 19 points, including a series of crowd-pleasing assists and steals. Freshmen Marquel Cooper and Jason Williams, and sophomore Matthew Wiersema are other young players that received significant minutes in this game. The Cavaliers were heavily out rebounded, but the ratio of assists to turnovers is improving greatly.

This is not the last time that Canterbury and Blackhawk will meet this year; there is still one regular season meeting scheduled that is to take place at Canterbury, as well as a potential meeting in the sectional tournament. As the Cavaliers continue to improve throughout the season, Canterbury hopes that this rivalry game will become one that could fall the Cavaliers way for the first time in many years.

Posted under Boys Basketball | No Comments »

The Lady Cavaliers freshman basketball team has added a contest against Concordia Lutheran High School on Monday, January 14. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

Posted under Cancellations and changes & Girls Basketball | No Comments »

Canterbury senior guard Aubrey Holle is featured in Thursday’s Fort Wayne News-Sentinel: “Leader of a Young Team”.

You can also read the News-Sentinel’s recap of last night’s 70-40 girls basketball loss at Elmhurst by clicking here.

Posted under Girls Basketball | No Comments »

The Australian Bandicoots’ victory over Canterbury was featured on both local prime time newscasts Monday evening, and in the newspaper on Tuesday.

For video from WANE (channel 15), click here or here.

For video from Indiana’s NewsCenter, click here.

News-Sentinel sports writer Blake Sebring’s article about the Canterbury boys is available on the News-Sentinel website: “Young, athletic Cavaliers are still developing; team a likely threat down the line”

12/12/2007 addition: The webcast audio is now available for listening by clicking on each of the following links. To download the files to your computer, right click on each link, then choose “Save Target As” (if using Internet Explorer) or “Save Link As” (if using Firefox):

JV First Half.mp3

JV Second Half.mp3

Varsity First Half.mp3

Varsity Second Half.mp3

Posted under Boys Basketball | No Comments »

Travel and weather concerns have led to the cancellation of Tuesday night’s home basketball game against Howe Military Academy. The game has yet to be rescheduled.

Posted under Boys Basketball & Cancellations and changes | No Comments »

by Brian Argus 

The Canterbury gym was the place to be Monday, December 10 as the Cavaliers hosted the Australian Bandicoots on their two-week tour of the United States. Parents, faculty, alumni, and students of all ages were treated to a game that was nothing less than spectacular, with an atmosphere to match.

The Bandicoots started off with two quick buckets; only to have the stingy defense of Zach Tomlinson and Andy Ottenweller produce four steals, spurring a 9-0 run for the Cavaliers.

After a first quarter that ended with Canterbury ahead by one, the second followed in similar fashion. The ebbs and flows of each team kept the game close, with a halftime score of 28-28.

In the third quarter the Cavaliers were able to attack from the onset, going on a 16-3 tear, producing the largest lead of the game. The Aussies were not to be denied, however, righting the ship and responding with a 12-1 run of their own to end the quarter.

With a two-point game heading into the fourth quarter, both teams put their foot on the accelerator; trading shot for shot, lead for lead, until the score was tied at 54. With seconds remaining Cavalier freshman Nick Lewis drove to the rim for the win, but was no match for the Aussie’s size advantage. To a four-minute overtime they went.

Overtime was much like the fourth quarter, with the Bandicoots trading the Cavaliers shot for shot. With 1:36 left, Lewis dropped a critical three, squaring the game. On the ensuing possession, Canterbury junior Patrick Yurkanin fouled out and the subsequent free throws put the Bandicoots ahead by two, 61-59.

The Cavaliers’ next possession ended in a single free throw, cutting the lead to one, and a great half court press forced an Aussie turnover with 40 seconds remaining. Andy Ottenweller drove, pulled up for the win just in front of the free throw line with 8 seconds, but failed to convert. A quick foul sent the Bandicoots to the charity stripe, where their lead was again pushed to two.

With less than 7 seconds remaining, it seemed only a miracle could save the Cavaliers… and Nick Lewis was not to be denied this time around. He dribbled the entire length of the floor, took it wide right, then cut back in along the baseline and laid it in between 3 Bandicoot defenders, sending the game to a second overtime and sending the packed gym into a frenzy.

The frantic pace continued in the second overtime, and the Cavaliers again found themselves trailing by three with fewer than two minutes to play. That lead was cut into one, but the Bandicoots’ Nick Martinez banked a three in with thirty ticks left to pull away. Zach Tomlinson, Canterbury’s leading scorer on the night, attempted to answer with a three of his own, but found only iron. Lachlan Kirwan, the Bandicoots’ leading scorer on the night, helped seal the deal with free throws as the Cavaliers were forced to foul. The final score: Bandicoots 75 – Canterbury 69.

The Cavaliers will need to rest quickly, as they take to the floor again on Tuesday evening against Howe Military Academy at home. The junior varsity game is slated to tip off at 6:00 p.m., and the varsity contest will follow at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Posted under Boys Basketball | No Comments »

Canterbury got off to a quick start, but the HSE Emus battled back and led the Cavaliers at half-time of the junior varsity game at Canterbury High School. The Emus continued their strong performance by outscoring Canterbury 10-7 in the third quarter and 12-7 in the fourth, en route to a 41-29 win. Richard Sandow played a strong third quarter for the Australian team, and finished the game as the leading scorer for the winners with 10 points. Louis Ilton and Levi Stevenson scored 9 and 8 points for the Emus, while Alexander Zagoridis scored 6 and Nathan Bapty chipped in 4 first-half points. Michael Cremin and Edward Bacigalupo rounded out the scoring for the Australians with one basket apiece.

Canterbury’s leading scorer at the half, Reed Haines, picked up his fifth foul with 1:30 left in the third quarter and watched the rest of the game from the bench. Arthur Haines finished as the Cavaliers’ leading scorer with 10 points.

Posted under Boys Basketball | 1 Comment »