The Bishop O’Byrne Lady Bobcats and the Jasper Place Rebels took home top honours in the 20th annual Bert Church Invitational (BCI) basketball tournament Dec. 16-18.
Both Bert Church clubs lost to John G. Diefenbaker in their first game Dec. 16, as the Lady Chargers dropped an 81-48 decision, while the boys squad lost 71-68.
“There were a little bit of nerves, they were playing infront of their peers, and it’s a huge tournament for them every year,” said the senior boys head coach Mike Sera. “We made it a close game, and almost pulled it off.”
Sera’s squad went 1W-2L overall in the tournament, defeating Lord Beaverbrook 77-66, Dec. 17, and taking a 76-60 loss to Foothills High School, Dec.18.
“We played some good strong minutes, and then at times, showed our youth,” said Sera. “The score doesn’t depict how close the Foothills game really was.”
The Lady Chargers also posted a 1W-2L record in the tournament, beating Foothills 64-62, Dec. 17, and losing 65-42 to the cross town rival Mustangs, Dec. 18.
“The girls played well all weekend, they played through some adversity,” said Lady Charger head coach Ian Ferguson. “The big thing is that we are seeing progress from the start of December until now. We played McDougall closer than we did at the start of the year.”
Ferguson said he saw high intensity from both his players and the fans against the Mustangs.
“I think any time you have a game against a rival, there are emotions and energy that is brought just by the nature of that rivalry,” said Ferguson.
With the losses, both the Bert Church teams were relegated to the consolation bracket, and were unable to compete for the overall title.
The Lady Mustangs’ were just two baskets shy of qualifying for the championship bracket in their first BCI appearance.
The squad entered the tournament undefeated in the regular season, only to lose its first matchup against Bishop O’Byrne 72-68.
“They had some hot shooting to start the second half. We managed to keep the lead until two minutes to go when they put the press on and we turned it over three times in a row,” said George McDougall head coach Joe McLaughlin. “The girls panicked a bit, and we couldn’t recover at the end.”
Had that first game swung the other way, his squad would have been in the final, McLaughlin said.
“The girls have been looking forward to it, it was a great lift for them,” said McLaughlin. “We would have been in a position to win it, if we could have won that Bishop (O’Byrne) game.”
Sera said he was impressed with the talent invited to this year’s edition of the BCI, as the championship game between Jasper Place and Western was some of the most skilled basketball he has seen at this level.
“There were two elite teams that played in the final, I have never seen a game played that well by two teams,” he said. “It proved to our fans what basketball is in Alberta.”
