NEW WATERFORD, N.S. — It wasn’t the way the Breton Education Centre Bears wanted to start the New Waterford Coal Bowl Classic.
The Bears, who have one Grade 12 in their lineup, were defeated 93-70 by the Northumberland Nighthawks during Day 1 of the Coal Bowl Classic action at the BEC gym in New Waterford.
Raine Descoste had a game-high 31 points for Northumberland, while Marcus MacLeod followed with 27 points. Lexter Rico chipped in with 13 points.
Ben Kearney powered the offense for the hometown Bears with 21 points including five three-point shots in the contest. Conor Chiasson recorded 16 points and Aaron MacLean added 13 points.Northumberland opened with a 9-0 run to start the game, which forced the Bears to call an early timeout. The timeout sparked a comeback for BEC, who pulled to within one in the first, but that’s as close as they would come to taking a lead.
The Bears never had a lead in the game. They trailed 24-18 after the first and 48-35 at halftime, before the Nighthawks pulled away in the third, finishing the quarter with a 71-49 lead.
In other action Monday, the Sydney Academy Wildcats were downed 82-75 by the École secondaire de La Seigneurie Chevaliers 82-75.
Xavier Bedard had a game-high 24 points for the Quebec City school, while Zakiel Harbour and Benjamin Courtemanche both netted 10 points apiece.
Adam Callaghan had 22 points for the Wildcats, while Morgan Ross dropped 12 points and Caelan Davis recorded 10 points.
Meanwhile, the Juvénat Notre-Dame Islanders edged the Montague Vikings 59-57.
Antoine Gilbert had 12 points for the Islanders, while Alexandre Briere scored nine points and Jeremy Hebert notched eight points.
Jack MacKenzie and Jack Munro led the offense for the P.E.I.-based Vikings with 14 points apiece. Sawyer Ryan added seven points.
In the tournament’s opening game Monday afternoon, the Bluefield Bobcats of Hampshire, P.E.I., beat the Middleton Monarchs 57-55.
Daniel Wills netted a game-high 22 points for the Bobcats, while Thomas Yeo had 12 points and Brady Rodd found the basket for 10 points.
Noah Bezanson recorded 14 points for the Monarchs, while Adam Wentzell had 11 points and Dan Bower dropped eight points.
Coal Bowl Classic action resumes on Tuesday with five games on the schedule.
Bluefield will play Silverthorn at 11 a.m., followed by Northumberland and Montague at 1 p.m., and Sydney Academy versus Middleton at 3 p.m.
The BEC Bears girls team will open their tournament at 6 p.m. when they host Northumberland, a game which will be followed by the BEC boys’ team against the Winston Churchill Bulldogs on Lethbridge, Alta at 8 p.m.
For live coverage of the New Waterford Coal Bowl Classic, follow Post sports reporter Jeremy Fraser on Twitter - @CBPost_Jeremy.
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