Wildfire basketball teams compete in Lethbridge

 

Manny Everett
Times Contributor

 

Three Wheatland Wildfire teams travelled to Lethbridge last weekend for the 2016 Pre-Lim Battle at the Bridge.
The Wildfire U13 boys, a Strathmore and area spring league, enjoyed the most success of the local teams winning third in their bracket of nine teams. They began the weekend with a 45-33 win over Lethbridge Express/Tanner on Friday night.
The Wildfire hit a bump on the road to the final with a 48-39 loss against a tough Genesis team that eventually won the tournament. However, the loss didn’t derail the Wildfire as they won a close, hard-fought game 33-30 over the Calgary Basketball Association’s Thompson team for the third place finish.
The U13 Wildfire girls played a total of five games over the weekend before finally losing to the Raymond Comets in the Consolation final.
The girls’ weekend began with a pair of games of Friday that included a 31-21 win against the Wolverines, followed by a 28-24 loss to the Cardston Cougars.
The loss moved them to the consolation side of the tournament where they put up two wins, a decisive 40-18 victory over the Coaldale Chaos and a tighter 19-14 win against the Lethbridge Express. That put the Wildfire in the consolation final where they lost a tough game, 36-29 against the Raymond Comets.
Wheatland Wildfire U15 boys had a hard time, beginning with a close 48-42 loss to Genesis Blue on Friday. They came out hot in their second game, posting a convincing 55-28 victory over the CYDC U14 Boys Dusoswa, which put them in the consolation final. However, they came up against a tough Jr. Horns team that beat them 62-25 for the win.