Strathmore High and Crowther Memorial basketball teams gearing up

Times Contributor   

 

Both of Strathmore’s public schools are getting ready for basketball season this week.

Strathmore High School

Strathmore High School’s girls basketball team held tryouts during the first couple of weeks of November, and their team held their first set of practices this past week.

According to girls head coach Dion Galandy, the tryouts went well, and the Spartans should once again have a decent team.  

“I’m very excited.  I feel that we will have 12 well-rounded players, and the skill level of all of our players are equal such that if we go to the bench, we will not miss anything.”

The girls team will be pretty young, and Galandy hopes to use this season as a building block towards the future.  

“I hope that we are going to upset some teams that didn’t expect us to beat them,” he said.

He also said that Strathmore High School will be hosting provincials in March, which means that the team qualifies automatically. He hopes that the team gains some experience that they can use in the future.

Galandy also doesn’t expect to use any different plays or strategies this year compared to last year.

The season for Strathmore High School’s girls team begins next Thursday, Nov. 29, with a tournament at SAIT.  The first home game is on Dec. 5th, with Strathmore High’s home tournament being held on Dec.14 – 15.

Crowther Memorial Junior High School

Meanwhile, Crowther Memorial Junior High’s basketball teams were still holding tryouts this week due to a large turnout for the initial tryouts that were held during the week of Nov. 12.  The tryouts this week were held for the purposes of paring down the rosters to 12 players each.

“I love basketball, and I look forward to the season starting every year because I love to coach,” said senior girls coach Scott Koller.

Expectations are high this season, especially for the senior girls team.  

“We had a good year last year, so I’m hoping to repeat that success this year,” said Koller.

Koller also said that both he and senior boys coach Matt Laslo always expect their teams to play the best they can, win or lose, and always strive to improve every game.

The seasons for both teams do not start until Jan. 11-12, when they compete in a tournament.