Short Bench Blues Haunts Spirits
In the late 1970’s the TV show “Eight Is Enough” was highly popular.
It was a show where the family patriarch handled the pressure of raising eight children. Trying to make life work out.
For the Vanier Spirits senior girls basketball team injuries and another player who left the team the short bench of 10 players is now down to eight for the remainder of the season.
It’s likely not to be a comedy as the bench is nursed for every ounce of effort.
Will it difficult? Yes.
The Spirits found out how difficult on Tuesday evening as they lost 88 - 41 against the visiting Swift Current Ardens.
“Tonight I’m really proud of the girls. They battled hard like through the whole game. We were down here and there but they kept on going. They kept on going. I’m proud of them,” Vanier Spirits head coach Miguel Cruz said in the post game interview.
The Spirits - who have spent the season with a short 10 player bench - were playing with an even shorter bench of only eight players against the very fast and tough Ardens. Something Cruz is happy with how the Spirits dealt with it.
Three pointers set the immediate tone of the game as the Ardens’ Bree P came out and wired three field goals and a basket within the first minute and a half of the game.
Cruz said he hadn’t watched the Ardens warmup who had a four minute rapid drill on three pointers making six in a row just before tipoff.
He said the three pointers did not have the Spirits ready to call it a game.
“It hurts but they’re a great shooting team. They can all shoot threes.”
Swift Current’s identifying and reducing the efficacy of Vanier’s traps was a major move in the game. During a time out the Arden’s’ coach spoke to her team about breaking the Spirits trap.
Editor’s Note - MJ Independent never reveals during a game things we inadvertently hear on the benches.
“That’s the way it goes. It’s like a chess match. We do one thing. They do another thing. We tried some new things and had some success,” Cruz said, adding “I think the girls had some fun with that.”
About the press Vanier was having some success with he said it eventually failed due to multiple reasons - efforts by the Ardens and Spirits fatigue.
“It was probably a bit of both. We’re down to eight girls on our team and that’s really tough.”
Asked what effect the now even shorter bench is going to have on the road to the city championship and to Hoopla he said it doesn’t make things easier.
“It will be very difficult but our girls are up to the task.”
As far as the Spirits strategy, anchored in tough defence, he said the short bench may have an effect causing minor changes but it’s a wait and see kind of thing.
Top Scorers
Ardens
Bree P - 29 points
Dani G - 21 points
Naomi R - 12 points
Spirits
Madeline Cruz - 15 points
Kallie N - 8 points
The Scoresheet