By Bill Bray
TOLEDO – Redemption was on the minds of the Little Giants after their below par performance against St. Francis last Friday. Four solid quarters of offense and defense left the Giants one point short in a 58-57 loss at St. John’s.
After one quarter Ross trailed by a two-point margin at 16-14. During the quarter, Jaedyn Bulger nailed a pair of threes to help keep the Little Giants close.
The Titans took the second quarter by a 16-15 count. Ayden Carter was the Little Giant to keep his team within three at the break at 32-29. Carter was five of six at the foul line along with two buckets.
The Fremont Ross performance on both ends of the court continued to keep themselves close in the third period. Ross took the quarter by six points to have a 44-41 when the third stanza ended. The team looked poised for a win over a above average St. John’s.
The fourth quarter was just as fast paced as the first quarter. The game resembled a heavy weight championship fight. Vaughn of St. John’s scored eight fourth quarter points including four of four at the foul line to help his team squeak out the TRAC win.
A very disappointed John Cahill continued to be proud of the way his team battled during the one-point loss. “We had real opportunities to win this thing,” Cahill began. “I’m proud of our growth and what we are doing. We had that bad setback Friday night and to bounce back on the road and it took nearly a doggone buzzer beater to beat us. So, I am proud of what we did here tonight. We just eventually must get the right outcome. We talk about this, we just don’t have that signature win that we can hang our hats on. Most of these guys in any of the sports they play have not felt that. Tonight, on the road, at St Johns, with a team that has a good record and has some big wins, we had a real opportunity to get it done and we just didn’t. It doesn’t take away the fact that I am proud how hard we played and how we bounced back, and I am proud of the way we listened to the game plan tonight.”
Statistically in the scoring department Ayden Carter again led Ross with 24 points including eight ‘twos’ and eight of 10 from the foul line. Others in double figures included Kaden Holmes who finished with seven ‘twos’ and one of one from the foul line for 15 and Jaedyn Bulger who finished with two ‘threes’ and two ‘twos’ for 10 points.
“A couple of plays here and there that didn’t go our way tonight and it stings,” Cahill said. “We’ll just keep grinding and working. That’s all you can do,” Cahill continued. “We have to find ways to keep getting better and we aren’t far away. It’s just a question of getting over that last hump of finishing games. I thought we did a lot of things tonight to be able to win it. We just had a few too many turnovers and missed a few free throws down the stretch.”
Fremont Ross is back in action Friday night (weather permitting) against the always tough Toledo Central Catholic Irish.
Jaedyn Bulger (13) starts the game with a ‘three’ for the Giants. Bulger ended the night with 10 points.
Kaden Holmes (55) had a standout game for the Giants making several nice moves and baskets as he ended the night with 15 points.
Ayden Carter (22) kept up with is scoring dominance as he finished the game with 24 points. Always going 100 mph, Carter played a typical great game.