Cougars show determination

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Crowther Memorial Junior High School Cougars senior boys and girls basketball teams showed determination and a hard work ethic during their home tournament on Feb. 27-28.
Boy’s coach Matthew Laslo thought that his team became a tighter knit group throughout the tournament.
“We had a bit of a heartbreaker in the first game, and lost a game that I feel like we should have won. But we played very well in the final two games, really played like a team, helping each other, and passing to get everyone easy baskets,” said Laslo.
He felt that they used their size to their advantage when driving to the hoop.
“We have a big team this year, so it keeps us in most games. As well, we have a deep bench with lots of players being able to step in and play effective roles on the team,” said Laslo.
The boys were letting up on defence a little bit and Laslo admits that was out of the norm as they were not playing as a team.
“In our first game we didn’t really play good team basketball. We were all trying to get our own shots as individuals, and not passing to each other to get everyone involved,” said Laslo.
“As well we really struggled to keep our defense checks so they were scoring a lot of easy baskets that we usually don’t let teams get.”
The team has come a long way, considering the number of new players on the team new to the sport.
“It has been a work in progress. We knew going into the season that we didn’t have a ton of basketball experience as a team so all season long has been a learning process,” said Laslo.
Despite the inexperience he admits that hard work makes up for it.
“The most consistent thing for us is our work ethic. Every one of our players works hard especially on defense, and when we’re all working hard together we have a chance in every game,” said Laslo.
The team goal is to win zones next weekend and to play as a team.
Meanwhile, Scott Koller’s girls fared really well on their side of the tournament as they finished strong.
“Our girls played really well. We won third on our side of the draw,” said Koller.
He wanted to try new plays with his team and they were able to adapt rather quickly.
“We played great defence. We tried some new things that we have not worked on very much and the girls picked them up and had success with them,” said Koller.
He added that some more baskets made would have been an improvement in the tournament.
The girls have been fortunate to experience a great amount of success so far this season.
“Our season has been great. We have a great group of girls who work hard and we have been on the championship side of most of our tournaments this year,” said Koller.
The numbers have been low for the team, but they are always hardworking and determined and hope to do well at zones this upcoming weekend.