R.F. Staples School’s senior girls basketball team managed to score a silver in their season-opening tournament.
Both senior squads headed to Hilltop High School in Whitecourt Dec. 15-16 for the 15-team event, which saw the girls drop the final 66-45 to Blessed Oscar Romero High School. The senior boys managed to finish the event with the consolation title.
Girls co-coach Ron Carlyon said that coming out second was a good confidence booster for the young T-Birds.
“We played teams that were closer to our level, teams weren’t thumping us and vice versa,” he said. “It’s a nice way to take us into the Christmas break.”
He said he wanted to see a bit more work on longer shots out of his team, but on the whole he was exceedingly proud of how they refused to give up in the face of adversity.
Across the court, the boys lost their tournament opener by a single basket, forcing them into the consolation tier.
“We played Mayerthorpe on Friday and ended up losing 65-63. It was as close as you can get,” said boys co-coach Ken Williston. “So we ended up in the consolation side, but we beat St. Joseph 74-47 and Onoway 100-56, so the boys came home feeling pretty good.”
With the majority of his team new to high school basketball, Williston noted that they’ve already come a long way.
He said he was especially impressed by how they were coming together as a team.
“They’re starting to play our systems and look for each other instead of trying to do it all themselves,” he said. “When you get a young team, that part’s really important.”
Williston said he was going to keep the remaining practices fun to keep the mood on a good note, working on developing the team spirit and philosophy.
“Nothing new this week, just some general stuff,” he said. “We’ll come back after our break and go hard again.”
Both teams are taking a break for the holidays, but will be hitting the court again in January, with a league game against Onoway Jan. 10 and a tournament in Beaumont Jan. 12-13 before hosting their own 16-team tournament Jan. 19-20.
“It’s a big break, but we’ve got a few kids hurt who need to heal up,” said Carlyon. “So it’s actually a good thing for us.”
