Barrhead Composite High School (BCHS) and Neerlandia Public Christian School (NPCS) won the boys’ and girls’ sides of the Senior Jaguars Basketball tournament on Saturday.
The tournament was hosted by the Grade 8-9 Senior Jaguars boys’ and girls’ teams. It featured squads from R.F. Staples School and St. Mary in Westlock, Pembina North Community School in Dapp, Swan Hills, Onoway, Mayerthorpe and Edwin Parr Composite High School in Athabasca.
On the boys’ side, the BCHS Jaguars defeated Athabasca in the championship final by a whopping 79-53.
“We’ll never get that many points again,” said Jaguars coach Colin Erickson. “I think this is my eighth year coaching and we’ve never had 79 points in a game. “
It was particularly notable given that Barrhead was only leading Athabasca 36-33 at the half.
Barrhead had earned their way into the final by defeating Swan Hills in their first match and Neerlandia in their second match.
Erickson noted they had expected to see R.F. Staples in the semi-final, but the Westlock team was missing some players and struggled in the tournament.
The three wins this weekend mean that the BCHS Senior Jaguars have an 8-0 record, Erickson indicated. The only team to give them a really close match was R.F. Staples, who they defeated 45-41 in their first game of the year.
Erickson said their main competition this year is Athabasca, who they expect to see in the league championship.
The Senior Jaguars next play this Thursday, Jan. 24 versus St. Mary and Neerlandia. They are then off until the Feb. 7-8 weekend, when they enter a tournament in Athabasca.
Single-point victory for NPCS
The championship final between the Neerlandia Eagles and BCHS Jaguars was as close as you could get, as it came down to a single point.
“This was our first really close game (this season),” said Neerlandia coach Brett Seatter. “Credit to Barrhead — they kept doing the right things and getting points.”
In the final minutes of fourth quarter, the two teams were tied 24-24, but Neerlandia managed to get a point off of a penalty shot to gain the lead.
The Barrhead Jaguars managed to earn another basket to jump ahead 26-25. However, NPCS player Elizabeth Schuring was able to score the winning basket on an inbounds play.
“That was the design, to give (Schuring) the lay-up,” Seatter said. “We got the basket and held on for the win. Could have gone either way.”
Earlier in the day, Neerlandia defeated Mayerthorpe in their first match and then R.F. Staples in the semi-final.
While R.F. Staples and Neerlandia were fairly evenly-matched during the first half, things took off in the third quarter and they won 37-17, Seatter said.
“Credit to all the girls. The bench stayed positive … and they all went in and worked hard,” he added.
