Despite Loss In Final Tournament Well Worth It
Sunday afternoon didn’t work out as planned for the Spartans U17 Boys team.
In the Premier Prairie Classic Basketball tournament’s U17 boys division final the Spartans had hopes of taking the trophy.
There was just one roadblock - Regina Excite - in their way. A roadblock the Spartans could not overcome as the fell 75 - 55 in the final.
The Spartans put in a good effort against a bigger Excite team in the first half of the game.
The Spartans led 17 - 16 after the first quarter as they managed to make up trailing by six points.
In the second quarter the Spartans trailed by three points as Excite led 37 - 34 at halftime.
Excite’s size shone through in the third quarter as they started to dominate with a strong press. The score at the end of the third quarter was Excite 58 and Spartans 45.
Regina further accelerated in the fourth quarter and took fuller control of the game. The final score saw Excel 75 and Spartans 55.
The final just wasn’t the Spartans day after advancing through some tough competition.
“Usually we are lights out shooting but it is just one of those games where we were off. And they defended us pretty well so you can’t be too mad at that,” Spartans head coach Samuel Caplette said.
“They’re big. They’re long and physically strong they’ve got size on us,” Caplette said, adding “we’ve got good speed as I said we were off all day.”
Overall the Spartans had a good tournament especially since initially they were supposed to be a team.
“We’ve got a lot of heart. We’ve got a lot of hustle. And we all love each other a lot. I mean we all came together for this tournament and had some fun. We just ran into a wall in this final game here,” he said.
For player development the tournament was a good experience.
“It’s hood. You get to see all different players and coaches rather than just in Saskatchewan and the Moose Jaw area.”
Despite the Spartans players playing on different high school teams Caplette said they gelled really easily as they often hang out with each other after school.
Having the tournament goes beyond player development as it does give scouts for colleges and universities to have a better look at the players.
“It’s good to get these guy’s names out there for scouts and all that stuff.”
Overall the club basketball program is good because it helps to develop players’ outside the regular high school season and into the summer.
“It helps them develop their game throughout the summer. It’s really good for them.
