Basketball wraps up at Strathmore high

Posted on: J A McRae

Shannon LeClair 
Times Reporter
 
Basketball season for competitive school players is over, and coaches from Strathmore High School took a few minutes to reflect on the past season. 
The JV girls were a little overmatched in the senior league.
“We improved, but it was hard to see because we were playing seniors,” said coach Dion Galandy. 
“We focused on JV at the end of the year. We went to a tournament in Eckville and we lost in the final, so we got second place.”
At the final home tournament the girls walked away with gold, seeing a successful end to a tough season. 
“It was a positive finish to the tournament, to the year really,” said Galandy. 
With only one girl in Grade 12 this year, many of the girls are likely to be returning next year. 
“We will still have to work on a lot of fundamentals, a lot of confidence. We have to build some confidence by hopefully winning some of the games we play against some of the senior teams instead of just getting waxed,” said Galandy. 
Most of the players on the senior boys team won’t be returning next year, but coach Christopher Hall isn’t too concerned. 
“Most of our players were veterans and we will only be returning two kids. But Kyle Larson did an excellent job with the JV kids and our Junior high finished second in zones so I’m hoping our program will have a quick turnaround,” said Hall. 
“Our season went pretty well. We had our highs and our lows but overall we gave our best effort game in and game out and I think we all had a lot of fun over the course of the season.”
Hall said some of the highlights for the boys include, a double over time home game against Strathcona Tweedsmuir, where a lot of the boys stepped up and played big, and a surprising home tournament win against West Central.
“Individually we had our share of wow moments from a three quarter court swish, to unreal passes, to clutch shots. Tons of plays from the season stick out in my mind that made it a pleasure to watch whether as a coach or spectator.”
Kyle Larson coached the JV Spartans this season. Larson said the team played in the Foothills league where they were overmatched in the age group. 
“We went to three tournaments and competed well at those tournaments and finished the year of really well at a tournament in Rosemary,” said Larson. 
“The last two tournaments we played at in Duchess and Rosemary were definitely highlights in the season for the boys, they played very well in those tournaments and they had good games throughout.”
Larson said the team showed a lot of improvement going into that weekend, saying they had played better in the last game then they had the whole season.