Cougars show resiliency

Justin Seward

Times Reporter

 

The Crowther Memorial Junior High School junior varsity boys and girls basketball teams improved their skills immensely during their home tournaments on Jan. 16-17. The junior varsity boys showed strong play on the court as they lost to Chestermere in the final, finishing second place out of six teams. “We had a spirited and resilient team. There is very strong leadership from our Grade 8s this year – who have set the tone for dedication, sportsmanship and a strong work ethic for the new players coming in,” said Alysia Bailey, junior varsity boys head coach. “We played five games on Saturday and kept our energy and intensity up all day. They worked great as a team together and we had a lot of fun this weekend.” The boys did not play many games leading up to the tournament, but showed a lot of improvements in their first real competition of the season. “We had a couple exhibition games against HCC, but this was our first tournament. We have a very athletic and passionate team, however many of our players are new to the sport,” said Bailey. Girls coach Scott Sackett thought his team never gave up despite having a shorter bench. “The girls are learning how to compete for possession and they played long minutes, since we had a small team, and never gave up,” said Sackett. He noticed that the players were getting better with their overall play as the tournament wore on. “The girls had really improved on fundamental basketball skills and learning where to be on the court. Our second year players are developing into good leaders,” said Sackett. Both coaches would like to make the Cougar basketball program better every year and advance kids to the senior level.