Spartans crowned Christmas champs

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

The Strathmore High School (SHS) Spartans girls basketball team squashed the competition as they went on to capture the Christmas Classic Tournament title at the SHS gym.
The Spartans shaved the Eagle Butte Lady Talons 80-73 in the final Dec. 17.
The final score didn’t truthfully describe how the Spartans controlled tape-to-tape.
Allie Davidson, a Grade 11 guard, was named finals most valuable player after she scored 17 points, with 12 of them coming in the second half. She led the Spartans in tournament scoring with 46 points
“She did everything very well today. She shot the ball well, drove well and handled the ball well. She is everything you can ask for in a guard,” said Spartans head coach Dion Galandy.
The Spartans started hot, hitting from all over, leading 26-13 after the first.
Brianna Kennedy was named the tournament MVP with her barrage from the three-point line. She scored 15 points in each game and connected on 10 three-pointers. She was feeling it in the finals, when she buried five triples despite getting whacked in the face at the start of the third quarter. She was hitting the deep ones too, some coming a few steps from beyond the line.
The Spartans stretched their lead to 20 in the third, but the Lady Talons wouldn’t go away that easily.
Lady Talons guard Kamille Svrta dialed up three straight triples from the top of the circle to bring her team within nine with less than a minute to go, but they simply ran out of time.
Kaylin Larson and Ffyona Gibson-Smith tied for the Spartans team high with 18 points.
The Spartans withheld a strong second half push from the Notre Dame Collegiate Timberwolves, as they slighted them 64-54 in the semis.
Larson led the way with 17 points, while Kennedy and Davidson each contributed 15 points.
In the opener, the Spartans blasted the Banff High School Bears 81-10 Dec. 16.
They held the Bears scoreless in the first and third quarter.
Senior forward Tatum Wathen scored a team-high 16 points, while Gibson-Smith and Davidson registered 14 points and Sydney Boyd chipped in with 12 points.
The Spartans (2-0) hosted the Timberwolves (0-2) Dec. 20 and the Holy Trinity Academy Knights (3-0) Dec. 21 at the SHS gym. Following the Knights game, the Spartans will break for the holidays and pick up action Jan. 11 when they host the Highwood High School Mustangs (1-1).