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Boy Broncs champions in weekend tournament

Senior boy Broncs returned undefeated champions from a tournament in Grande Prairie held over the weekend.
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Ponoka Broncs’ Jaden Sandin drives the lane and makes a layup against the Stettler Wildcats during a home game Tuesday

Senior boy Broncs returned undefeated champions from a tournament in Grande Prairie held over the weekend. The title had special significance for head coach Blaine Haines, who started out coaching and teaching in Grande Prairie.

“It felt pretty great in my last year of teaching and coaching to go back north and win this tournament,” said Haines.

He is pleased to see his team push harder to win. In the semifinal game against the Hauraki Plains College, of New Zealand, the Broncs were trailing most of the game but found a way to win.

Haines wants to see some improvements when games get tough. “The boys are learning how to execute under pressure, but we have lots of room for improvement still.”

“In the final versus the home team, Tomahawks, we had to fight hard for every point and keep them from pulling away at times. I was extremely proud of the boys in the fourth quarter late when we out-executed the Hawks and won the championship,” he explained.

The scores of the games played were not available.

Good going in league games

Earlier in the week, senior girls and boys Broncs basketball teams had no trouble defeating the Stettler Wildcats in their home games Tuesday, Jan. 6.

At the outset of the boys’ game, it was clear the Broncs were in a position to control the court against the Wildcats.

Coach Blaine Haines was pleased with the efforts of his team with their first game after the holidays and kept his focus on improving their plays.

By the end of the first quarter, Ponoka held a commanding lead of 27-12 and they didn’t let up the pressure. The Broncs’ quick passes inside the key to help set up shots garnered easy points, increasing their lead.

The score at the end of the first half of the game was 57-27 for Ponoka.

“At half time, we talked about what we did well and what we didn’t do so well. We picked a couple new things at either end of the floor. Actually, the second half we took our press off and we were working on some other stuff,” said Haines.

Ponoka forced some important turnovers in the third quarter, making scoring a challenge for the Wildcats. At the end of the third quarter the score was 85-45.

Haines wants his players to have a healthy respect for their opponents. During the game against the Wildcats he took time to improve defense and offense. Younger players on the Broncs made efforts to score if they felt they could and it seemed to work.

“We were a little more aggressive tonight and that’s one of the things we talked about,” he explained.

Ponoka won 97-54.

Senior girls’ game

The girl Broncs also built up a comfortable lead early on in the game against the Wildcats.

Wildcats’ coverage changed from man-to-man to zone defense after seeing the Broncs take full control of the game in the first quarter. At one point, the Broncs were up 18-4.

A big part of winning is making the effort and trying harder than the other team, explained coach Adam Troitsky. The Broncs found ways to break the Wildcats’ defense in the key, passing quickly to teammates before finding a shot.

One of Troitsky’s goals is to find ways to skirt around the zone defense and this game was one the Broncs did well at. “We were trying to run stuff where we draw defense out and then run cuts through the keys.”

By half time the score was 31-17.

The Broncs were an even tougher opponent for the Wildcats when the third quarter started. Ponoka’s defensive strength, coupled with sinking shots at the basket made them a tough team to beat.

“We were just focusing on making the right plays at the right time,” explained Troitsky.

Ponoka managed to widen the point gap to 17 points by the end of the third quarter, bringing the score to 42-25. Ponoka won the game 48-34.

This is Troitsky’s first year teaching senior girls’ basketball at Ponoka Secondary Campus. He is also the girls’ coach at Mecca Glen School and previously coached the boys there.