Precious metal collectors the Senior boys Gryphons added to their lustrous haul last weekend.
They returned from Devon with a gleam about them … from silver medals and pride.
They also returned with a greater understanding of what is required to take their basketball to the next level.
“Once again the boys played very well,” said coach David Mueller. “But silver was as good as it was going to get in Devon.”
In Saturday night’s final they faced the 10th ranked team in the province – the big, fast and aggressive Leduc Tigers.
What do you do when confronted by tigers? You fight like tigers, and that is what the Gryphons did from the outset.
After the first quarter they were only down by three, 18-15. The Tigers’ ferocity, however, increased and the Gryphons struggled to get the ball to drop in the hoop.
While their defence did a good job of holding the Tigers at bay for the next two quarters, the Gryphons’ offence became virtually toothless. The Tigers eventually triumphed 62-46.
“The ball would just not go in,” said Mueller. “Our usually consistent foul shooting let us down, only making 5/18 from the line.
“Once again the boys have seen what it is going to take to get their game to that next level.”
The Gryphons had got off to a flying start in their opening game on Thursday afternoon against the hosts, Devon Wild Cats.
By the half they had a 22-point lead. The offence kept finding the target and the Gryphons walked away with an 83-38 victory.
On Friday night, the Gryphons were matched against the Spartans from Rimbey.
It promised to be a mouthwatering encounter. Rimbey had laid down a marker by knocking over the Whitecourt Chargers who had given Barrhead a tough challenge the previous weekend.
At the half, Rimbey led 36-29, thanks to excellent outside shooting. Forced to be more aggressive the Gryphons closed the gap to 48-45 by the end of the third.
The stage was set for an exciting finale. The Gryphons stepped up their offence and made some timely stops to emerge victorious, 69-62.
“Their conditioning really came to the forefront,” said Mueller.
Mueller said many of the Gryphons had strong games in the tournament and were MVP contenders.
Gerben Deinum was top scorer in the tournament with 37 points, followed by Sytse Akkerman (31) and Nate Meinema (30).
When all the statistics were totted up, Sytse “Scizzor” Akkerman took the MVP accolade.
“The team will continue working hard this coming week so they will be ready for our next challenge and meet our team goals,” added Mueller.
The Gryphons next play on March 9-10 in a zone tournament in Stony Plain.
