Spartans cruise in season opener

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

The Strathmore High School Spartans walked away from the Early Bird Tournament with a split.
The Spartans hosted the tourney Dec. 2 and 3 at the high school gym.
The senior boys Spartans clipped the Calgary Islamic School 92-62 in the opener and lost 72-67 to the West Central High School Rebels Dec. 3.
“I thought we played pretty good. You know, it’s only the first tourney, so you kind of just want to see what we got and see if our guys come together at all,” said Spartans head coach Matt Laslo. “It looks like, if we work this season as hard as we worked this weekend, we will be just fine. As long as you work hard out there, you can coach offensive and defensive systems. This should be a pretty fun year.”
The Spartans battled their cross-town rival, the Holy Cross Collegiate Hawks in a Foothills Senior Basketball League game Dec. 6 at Strathmore High School. Result not available as of press time.
Meanwhile, the junior varsity boys team rattled off three victories in their season debut.
“Overall, I was happy with our performance. We played well on offence and our guys off the bench played well also,” said head coach Cory Nelson. “There are a few things to work on, but overall, I was happy with everyone’s effort.”
The Spartans danced with the Highwood High School Mustangs Dec. 8 and prepared for the Brooks High School Invitational Tournament this weekend, with their first game Dec. 9 against the Eagle Butte High School Talons.
Despite starting slow in each game, the senior girls returned from their tournament in Medicine Hat with a 2-1 record.
They piled up wins over the Highwood High School Mustangs (50-28) and Kate Andrews High School Cats (65-48). They lost the opener 58-53 Dec. 2 to the Holy Rosary High School Raiders at Crescent Heights High School.
Brianna Kennedy led the Spartans in scoring each game. She piled up 12 points against the Raiders, a tourney-high 20 points in a win over the Mustangs and scored 12 points against the Cats.
“It looks like we have a lot of potential here. Despite having returning players, we are a team that has a lot of players not used to playing such prominent roles. We are still learning what we can be. This team has a lot of promise,” said Spartan head coach Dion Galandy.
The Spartans faced the HCC Hawks Dec. 6 and have a road game at Strathcona High School Dec. 11. They host their tournament Dec. 16 and 17 at the High School.
The Warriors will host the Central Alberta Selects (10-5-1) Dec. 4 (4:15 p.m.) at the Strathmore Family Centre.