The St. Mary Sharks left the zones tournament last Saturday with a well-earned bronze medal, but that is unfortunately not enough to advance to provincials this weekend.
“The goal was obviously to get to provincials, but top three is nothing to shake a stick at,” coach Darcy Romanuik said after the bronze-medal match against Drayton Valley’s Holy Trinity Knights.
Going into the third quarter, things did not look good for the Sharks as they faced a 60-49 deficit. The fought for the entire fourth quarter to even the score, and with just 3:15 left they took a 59-58 lead.
From there on out, the momentum was clearly in the Sharks’ favour as they sunk basket after basket. In fact, the only two points the Knights could muster came from free throws.
“We started executing and playing some defence, and as a result we won,” Romanuik said. “Hats off to the boys. They dug deep and came back from being down 11 to being up 11.”
The host Sharks came out of the gates strong in the first match of the tournament, easily defeating Warburg 65-40 on Friday afternoon.
They struggled Saturday morning against Concordia, however, dropping that match by a thin 60-55 margin and as a result missed their shot at provincials — only the top two teams advanced.
All told, Romanuik was happy with the way the season’s gone — they were able to medal in practically every tourney they played, which speaks volumes.
“I’m extremely proud of the boys and the effort they put in throughout the year,” he said.
This was the last event for four of the Grade 12 players, half the bench, so there will be some work to do next year.
Romanuik said he’s confident the younger students will be able to step up and lead the team next year, but added that doesn’t mean there won’t be a lot of work to do. “Sometimes you just have to start and work your way up,” he said.
