The girls and boys Senior Jaguars teams opened up their own invitational tournament with wins this past weekend, but both only managed to finish in third place.
The girls opened the tournament against the Gibbon’s Grizzlies, while the boys squared off against the Lilian Schick Knights.
A contingent of Jaguar supporters packed the central gymnasium, brandishing signs and exploding with enthusiasm hoping to carry their team to the championship.
Their support helped keep the Jaguars’ bench loose when things seemed to not go their way.
“I told them you’ve just got to remember that the game is just for fun,” said girls’ coach Lorna Hiemstra
Turnovers were a problem for both teams in the first half of the game.
“The first half we were so nervous,” said Hiemstra.
At the close of the first half, the teams were tied 19-19.
The Jaguars were playing a defence-first game, keeping the Grizzlies’ shooters to the perimeter where they were forced to take low-percentage shots.
With their height advantage, the Jaguars were able to out-rebound their opponents both on the offensive and defensive side of the court, which became really important in the later stages of the game.
“We weren’t taking advantage of our height in the early part of the game, but later on the girls realized and used it to their advantage,” said Hiemstra.
In the third quarter, the Jaguars came out of the gate like a team possessed, putting the pressure on the Grizzlies and forcing more turnovers.
The Jaguars had the lead going into the fourth quarter by a score of 27-23.
Trying to play a shutdown game in the fourth quarter nearly cost the Jaguars the game, but luckily the Grizzlies missed a few key shots sending the game into overtime.
“I told them just to play good defence and to rely on each other,” said Hiemstra
Overtime was all Jaguars as they outscored the Grizzlies 8-0 to win the game 42-34.
Mara Knapp scored the game-winning basket and finished with eight points.
“I was really excited when I saw the ball go into the basket,” Knapp said.
When it was all said and done, the Jaguars’ height and positioning was the difference-maker in the game.
“It was about improving, and within that game we improved tons,” said Hiemstra
Across the hall in the east gym, the Jaguar boys were putting on a clinic against the Knights.
From the get-go, the Jaguars dictated the pace of the game using their size and speed to stifle the Knights’ attack and dismantle their defence.
“We wanted to bring a lot of pressure and just hit the basket,” said coach Colin Erickson.
When the buzzer sounded to end the first quarter, the Knights had just completed a 5-0 run to pull even with the Jaguars at 8-8.
That would be the Knights’ best quarter for the rest of the game.
The second quarter was all Jaguars as they outscored the Knights 16-1.
From there the Jaguars wouldn’t look back.
It was difficult for the Knights to compete for rebounds and positioning with the big bodies the Jaguars were positioning under the basket.
Give the Knights credit though, because they didn’t give up.
They kept trying, but couldn’t make any shots.
“They’re a pretty good team, but we had a better team,” said Lane Borle
Unfortunately, time was against the Knights.
The Jaguars closed out the fourth quarter going on a 9-1 run, beating he Knights 41-13.
“It was nice to get the first win underneath the belt,” said Erickson.
