Spartans claim bronze medal at home

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

It’s always nice to perform at home, especially when home games have become a rarity this season.
Opting out of the Foothills Athletic Council this season, both guys and girls senior Strathmore High School Spartan basketball programs have taken part in tournament play this season.
Playing in tournaments all over Alberta means they expose themselves to better competition, but drastically limits the amount of home games.
That is why the annual Spartan Classic was so thoroughly enjoyed by both teams last weekend, as it gave them a chance to take on talented teams, sleep in their own beds, and perform in front of family and friends for a change.
The girls put the finishing touches on an enjoyable weekend with a fantastic comeback win in the bronze medal game.
“That game made the weekend for us,” said Spartans Head Coach Kyle Larson. “There are a lot of smiling faces in that hallway now because of that performance.”
Taking on the Lacombe Composite High School Rams, the Spartans trailed by nine at half. Similar to much of their tournament play this season and earlier in the weekend, the offence struggled out of the gates.
“At halftime, we talked about being too patient in our offence. We needed to look to score more, be quicker when generating our offence and that not everything needed to come out of half-court sets,” said Larson. “We started to run more, got some points off steals with our press and really created problems for them.”
Leading the way was Sydney Boyd, who turned in all 15 of her points in the second half. Allie Davidson was also strong in the second half, as she chucked in 15 of her own to go with her team-high 25.
The offence needed a change in its starting rotation and game plan after Kirsten Whelan rolled her ankle in the first half of the semifinal game against the Strathcona Christian Academy Eagles Feb. 17.
The Eagles were able to shut down the Spartans at the point of the attack, holding them to 31 in the 57-31 defeat.
“Kirsten was playing great this morning. She was the only one getting second-chance baskets, finishing around the hoop and having one of the best games I’ve seen her play this year,” said Larson.
While Whelan was out for the bronze medal game, she was seen walking around afterwards and Larson is hoping she will be good to go in a week’s time.
Despite not their greatest performance, the Spartans picked up a win in the opener over the H.J. Cody Lakers 45-37.
Boyd led the way once again with 19 points, as Davidson poured in 11.
“Scoring has been a struggle for us all season,” said Larson. “Hopefully we are able to build off this season as we only have one more invitational tourney left before we start to get ready for Zones.”
The Spartans will be in action next weekend in Wetaskiwin for the Battle River tournament Feb. 23 and 24, and with the 3A South Central Zone tournament March 8-10 at their high school.

On the boys’ side, the Spartans were able to give the local fans a fantastic finish in their final game.
Playing in a one-score game for four of their last six opportunities, the Spartans showed a calming presence in the final minutes.
The Ponoka Secondary Broncos went toe-to-toe with the Spartans for 38 minutes.
Any time a team scored, the other would answer with a bucket of their own on the other side.
The Spartans were able to break that trend with 1:05 remaining in the fourth, when Nathan Cayouette went barreling into the lane with a strong finish, picking up the hoop and the harm, giving the Spartans a one-point edge.
“The boys always get so pumped up when Nathan scores. He works so hard on defence … when he scores with a nice high finish over one of their big guys, the bench goes crazy,” said Spartans Head Coach Matt Laslo.
The Spartans weren’t done there: the next trip down the floor with 37.2 seconds left, freshman Dan Mulder drilled a 3 to go up 75-74.
“The play was for Josh to take a quick three. But when we got the ball inbounded, Josh saw that Dan was wide open and made a great pass to him,” said Laslo. “That was really great to see because all weekend I had been telling them to play unselfishly and to trust their teammates to make open shots.”
After Mulder canned his 28th point of the game, he let out a roar and flexed on the Broncos before his defence snuffed out any last-second buzzer beater attempts.
The Spartans started the tournament on the wrong foot when they lost 93-65 to Willow Creek Composite High School Cobras Feb. 16. Cayouette tied Reid Jensen for the team lead with eight points.
Falling victim to a tough draw on the B side of the bracket, the Spartans drew the Cochrane High School Cobras later that evening and got thumped 89-33.
Mulder guided the Spartans with 13 points, while Josh Filipionek chipped in with 12.
The Spartans will also be in action this weekend at the Battle River tourney in Wetaskiwin.