Hawks entrenched in tight contests

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Holy Cross Collegiate Hawks senior girls basketball team were caught up in a tight battle with the Foothills Composite Falcons, taking a 28-21 lead into half, but saw it dissipate and were outscored 32-26 in the second half, en route to a 53-47 defeat on home court on Feb. 11.
“I was pleased with our effort in the first half,” said Head Coach Michael Annicchiarico. “I thought we controlled the tempo and controlled the game. But I think a bit of fatigue set in the second half. I think a lot of our girls who played most of the game started to tighten up a bit and they put on a very effective press in the fourth quarter.”
He said the credit goes to his defense for keeping an offensive juggernaut such as Foothills to only 53 points because they were used to scoring 90 points on other teams.
However, he felt his team turned the ball over too much, and not attacking the basket hard enough hurt them in the second half.
“It’s just a matter of will,” said Annicchiarico. “In the last few minutes we ran out of gas and it cost us. Hopefully we can chalk this up as a learning experience and be better for it as the season goes on.”
Meanwhile, the Hawks junior B boys wrapped up their season with an overtime thriller, coming away with a 40-37 win over Drumheller’s St. Anthony’s Saints at Holy Cross Collegiate on Feb. 12.
Head coach Ben Chin said it was a good game for the boys to experience early on in their basketball development.
“It’s a big win for the boys,” said Chin. “It’s not often you can replicate that situation in practice. It’s just good experience, especially when these kids are just starting out in their basketball careers. It was ugly, and I can’t say it was very systematic and all they want to do is come together as a team and have fun. And when we can win it’s that much easier to have fun.”