The Chestermere Lakers varsity boys’ basketball club won their opening game of the Bert Church Invitational Basketball tournament in a commanding fashion.
The Lakers crushed the Lord Beaverbrook Lords 106-50, Dec. 15.
“The team played well,” said Lakers’ head coach Erhayet Ozcan. “We play with a lot of defensive intensity and that’s always our No.1 goal.”
With only one other Rocky View Sports Association (RVSA) team playing in the tournament, the Lords were an unfamiliar opponent for the Lakers. Heading into the game, the Lakers focused on their own play rather than reading their opponent.
“Whether it’s a game or practice, our focus is to be better than our last performance,” said Ozcan. “The teams that we’re playing against, we’ve never seen them before, so our focus is on our own ability.”
The Lakers’ varsity girls club was also dealt an unfamiliar opponent. They were defeated by the Hunting Hills Lightning, 62-45, Dec. 15.
“We had a good first half,” said head coach Brian Utley. “They were a pretty physical team. We don’t see many teams that play man-to-man, so it was good to see a team get out of the zone and play man-to-man like we do.
“It’s kind of fun playing a different team, especially a team that plays similar to us.
“It was back-and-forth in the first half. In the third quarter, they keyed on Yasmene Saghir and tried to shut her down, and to some effect they did. We didn’t do enough things to score, so it was a weak third quarter, and in the fourth quarter we just couldn’t score. It just got away from us. They out hustled us in the fourth quarter.”
Turnovers, which have been a problem for the team all season according to Utley, were also a factor in the game against the Lightning and is an aspect of their play they hoped to improve on throughout the tournament.
“With a young team, we’ve made some bad choices (on the court),” he said. “A lot of times our turnovers are leading to baskets for the other team. It’s something we’ve tried to cut down on. It hasn’t worked for us yet, but we’re working on it.”
The varsity girls played John D. Diefenbaker in their second game of the tournament while the boys took on league rival, the Bert Church Chargers. Results were not available at press time.
