Spartans impress at home tourney

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

The Strathmore Spartans senior boys basketball team started strong in their home tournament on Feb 12-13.
The team opened up with a 70-point win over Hugh Sutherland before winning a hard-fought double overtime game over Henry Wisewood the next day, which earned them a spot in the final with Camrose, who defeated them 71-57.
Spartans Head Coach Kyle Larson said they were without four regulars in the line-up, and playing with short bench was tough because in the end the boys were exhausted.
“I thought we played well through the first half tonight,” said Larson.
“I think a little bit of fatigue caught up to us and a short bench. We couldn’t match their size. We only had two our two main posts here tonight and asked other people to do jobs they normally don’t.”
He added the size difference made it difficult to generate anything in the paint and they lived or died in the area all game long.
The biggest thing they can learn from the tournament is working on more of a man-to-man offense and getting more aggressive, while trying to be better on rebounding.
Josh Lawal said his team left it out all on the table but exhaustion set in after that double overtime game.
“Next time hopefully we’re mentally and physically prepared,” said Lawal.
“It was good for us to have this kind of game to let us know where we’re at this point of the season.”
Lawal was awarded the All-Star award for his team, but said the whole team could’ve received the honour with the effort they put in all tournament long.