St. Augustine’s junior varsity basketball teams hosted a fun tournament last weekend with the Kings making it to the finals game.
Their second game against the Duffield Sabres showed that the Kings were able to put on the pressure with speed and determination. The Sabres had a tough time competing with their high energy throughout the game, which showed in the final score of 57-32 for the hosts.
Speaking on behalf of coach Kevin Prediger was Luc Gratton, who was pleased to see their performance. “I would say that our asset as a team is definitely our speed.”
Despite making it to the finals against Sacred Heart out of Wetaskiwin, the Kings lost 39-59. Gratton said he was more pleased to see the Kings improve against Wetaskiwin.
The Kings and Wetaskiwin recently played an exhibition game and Gratton said the point spread was much larger.
“There was a lot of growth there from the first time we played that team to the Saturday game,” said Gratton.
The Queens did not fare so well, losing all their games buy large margins. Coach Brittany Ouellette said her team is mostly made up of Grade 7 girls, many of whom have never played basketball before.
In their game against the Duffield Sabres, the Queens lost 18-59 and struggled to keep up with the fast pace the Sabres set. Forced turnovers wreaked havoc on the young team who tried their best to match strong passing and dribbling skills.
If the girls stick together for the next two years of junior varsity basketball, Ouellette feels they will be a much stronger team. Despite losing all their games, she says their spirits stayed strong.
“All of them as a group have an excellent attitude where they are in terms if development,” said Ouellette.