A trio of rivalry games highlighted Rocky View Sports Association’s (RVSA) second week of high school basketball, as the George McDougall varsity boys and girls teams took on the Bert Church Chargers and the Cochrane Cobras varsity boys took on the Chestermere Lakers, Dec. 6.
The Lady Mustangs followed up their season-opening win against Cochrane with an 82-56 rout of Bert Church, a game that the Mustangs were looking forward to.
“It’s a big rivalry game, but we wanted to focus on staying relaxed,” said Lady Mustangs’ head coach Joe McLaughlin. “It was a really intense game, and that’s one of the games the girls look forward to every year. We hadn’t shot the ball well (against Cochrane), but against Bert Church, we made our all our shots in the second half.”
While the Lady Mustangs improved their record to 2W-0L, their male counterparts dropped to 0W-2L after losing to Bert Church 77-55.
“It was a tough loss,” said George McDougall head coach Adam Pratt. “We didn’t give it our best effort and we didn’t have the intensity that we should’ve. When we were working hard, we ended up cutting the lead almost in half, but we weren’t able to finish.”
After defeating George McDougall in week one, the Cochrane Cobras lost a close 77-73 game to the Chestermere Lakers.
“We knew Chestermere was going to be really tough,” said Cobras’ head coach Jim Forrest. “They’re probably the No. 1 team in the province, and we’re going to butt heads with them all year. I was pretty happy with our performance given how little practice we’ve had. We had a lot of chances and a lot of shots. We just need to be more polished, make a few more shots and keep improving.”
The two teams played five times last year and will meet at least once more this season, which is helping build a healthy rivalry.
“Last year, they were all competitive games, and we both have a lot of players back,” said Forrest. “The teams like each other, they respect each other and they’re friendly, but it’s a strong rivalry.”
“I think we’re the two best teams in the province,” said Lakers head coach Erhayat Ozcan. “What makes it more fun is that we play in the same division and that’s what makes it a rivalry.”
The game against Cochrane was Chestermere’s first league game of the season, and Ozcan said his team played well despite missing three players due to various ailments and injuries. The Lakers’ next game will be Dec. 14 when they host George McDougall.
In other week two league action, the Springbank varsity girls defeating Bow Valley 56-45 and the Cochrane Cobra varsity girls defeating Chestermere 56-41.
