Fun competition was the name of the game on the weekend for a number of area junior high basketball teams.
On Saturday, Jan. 30, Ponoka Secondary played host to their annual boys’ and girls’ Broncs tournament which saw teams from schools in Lacombe and Eckville visit on the girls’ side and Stettler, Blackfalds and Bluffton come in for the boys’ draw.
The tournament is designed to simply give the teams a chance to play, learn and have some fun, which is why it is just a round robin event with no playoffs and a few special rules in place - such as man to man defence and no pressing past a certain points lead - in order to maintain that fun atmosphere for the teams.
While the boys had their struggles, they did have a measure of success on the day and the girls’ head coach Adrian Paolinelli was very pleased with how the team did.
“The girls played amazing this weekend. Their defense was outstanding and they were moving the ball around great,” he said in an interview.
“They worked their butts off and represented Ponoka Secondary Campus very admirably. I was extremely proud of the girls and they should be proud of how they played.”
He added that moving forward, he believes the girls are coming together as a team and he feels they have a great shot at making a run for the league title at the qualification round in Lacombe later this month.