HCC basketball season starts
By Brad Everett Times Contributor
Brad Everett Photo
The girls’ season got off to a rough start with a loss to Bearspaw Christian School in their Friday game and then losses on Saturday to teams from Didsbury and Caroline.
“The girls played strong defense and showed a lot of speed and aggression,” said coach Michelle Leitner. “Although we would have liked to finish in a higher position, the girls showed a lot of improvement between our first and third game, and I’m excited to see how they progress throughout the season.”
With a combination of league games and tournaments ahead, Leitner hopes the team will host zones and make it into the league playoffs.
The senior boys fared a bit better with an 86-64 win over the Rosemary Rockets on Friday. Saturday was less successful with a 95-53 loss to the host St. Joseph’s Crusaders followed by a 83-51 loss to the Vauxhall Vikings in back-to-back games
“There are a lot of things to evaluate after this past weekend,” said Hawks coach Joshua Jalbert. “It was good to get some games under our belt and we learned a lot. Our three-point shooting was quite strong this past weekend, I was very happy with that. Our biggest struggle was our decision making – it led to a lot of turnovers and easy baskets for the opposing teams.”
Jalbert’s goal is for the team to finish in the top three in zones, and then win zones and compete in provincials again this year.
“I’m looking forward to our home tournament (Dec. 13-14) and I know the guys are excited to play in front of the home crowd,” Jalbert said. “I’m anticipating that after a league game and a week of practice we will compete at a higher level. It’s still quite early in the season so I’m not sure what the other teams will look like. I am hoping we can make it to the final and would be happy to meet St. Joseph’s again.”
The Hawks’ first game of their home tournament is Dec. 13 at 2:30 p.m.