Spartans eye zone title after league play

Times Reporter   

 

In their league playoff matchup, the fourth-seeded Strathmore High School Spartans were paired with first-seeded Foothills Composite High School. The Spartan boys dropped 87-33 on March 5 on away turf. Foothills had only lost one game all season.

“To be honest, our league is a little silly, because they’re the only school that runs two teams, kind of playing in one position,” Spartans coach Ken Smith said. “That’s a real unfair advantage to the school, and their program. They’ll let their junior team play, and then because they want to make playoffs, they’ll let their senior team play, which is one of the top 4A schools in the province.”

Strathmore High School finished with a 2-6 league record, but has other goals on their mind now.

“This isn’t really as important as zones,” Smith said.

In their zone quarter-finals on March 10, eighth-seeded Strathmore defeated Bow Valley 74-54.

“We kind of started out slow again. We were missing a couple of key guys, and our starting point guard was sick,” Smith said. “We’re playing with even more of a skeleton crew than we normally do.”

Smith will have nine players ready to go for March 12’s semifinal game (result not available as of press time) against Chestermere, the number one team in the province.

“The south central zone is arguably the toughest in the province. Even to make it, is quite an accomplishment,” Smith said.

Following their semifinal against Chestermere, the Spartans will play – win or lose – March 13 in Olds, as the tournament is double elimination.