R.F. Staples senior basketball teams landed in fourth place at the Edson tournament Dec. 8-9, the clubs first tournament of the season.
The girls defeated Holy Redeemer 53-39 in the first game of the tournament, and the boys downed Hinton, putting both teams on the championship side of the tournament.
“That was a good win, the girls played really hard,” said senior girls co-coach Margaret Benham. “We had only had a couple of days of practice.”
The girls had a tougher go against host team Parkland Composite, falling 75-29 to a very strong team.
“We were struggling with some injuries,” Benham said. “We had a couple of people injured so pretty much all of my returning players were injured and had a lot of chances to play our new girls. When we see we’re playing against a really strong team, we started having personal goals, what are we going to do different to try and improve on what we know.”
The injuries piled on as some players were still struggling with back injuries and concussions before the tournament, while others suffered knee and groin injuries that game. Benham said they should be rested and recovered for the busy week ahead, but the new girls showed they had skills to work with.
“They really rose to the challenge,” she said. “They really worked hard, especially when we relied on them when we had so many injuries. They really had to step up and lead the team.”
The girls placed fourth after losing 52-25 to Grande Prairie’s Peace Wapiti Academy.
The boys faced a similarly tough struggle against Parkland in the second game and Holy Redeemer in the third, losing to both schools.
“The Holy Redeemer game, they beat us by a lot,” said seniors boys co-coach Ken Williston.
“They have gone to provincials the last four years in a row so they have a very strong program and we’re a very young team this year. It was a little bit tough for the boys, but they hung in there pretty good.”
Williston said it was encouraging to see all the young players stepping up for their first tournament.
“It was a tough tournament just because we’ve only had a couple practices, so we don’t have our systems down yet or any of our plays,” Williston noted. “So the guys were just learning and struggled with that a little bit, but as a whole they played really well together.”
Benham also noted that this tournament was really the first time R.F.’s returning players and players from feeder schools could gel together as a team.
“Last year they were opponents and now they’re working together,” she said.
“It was definitely a learning experiences and the fact it was an away tournament, there was a lot of team bonding going on.”
The teams are gearing up for an away game in Athabasca Dec. 13, an exhibition game at St. Mary School for the senior girls Dec. 14, and then a tournament in Whitecourt Dec. 15-16.
