Local teams playing at the Moose Jaw Senior Girls Invitational Basketball Tournament played with a lot of heart and soul on Saturday,

It was a day of the press, fast breaks, grappling and containing. But it wasn’t one of tears.

Cyclones Outmuscle A Win

Central Cyclones - 51

Humboldt Mohawks - 32

It was a big afternoon as they recorded their first of two wins by defeating the Humboldt Bears 51 - 32.

The Cyclones were behind after the first quarter with the Mohawks holding a one point lead.

The Cyclones would muscle down in the third quarter putting the game for all practical purposes out of reach for Humboldt.

The win was a great refresher for the Cyclones as they were winless in two games on Friday.

“It was good to end the weekend with two ends. And we got to work on things that we needed to. So all in all, there’s a good day,” Tanya McLean head coach of the Cyclones said after their final tournament game.

(See photos of game two at the bottom of the article)

About Saturday she defined the day as good for the team.

“Everyone got to play lots. We got to work on a few things we needed to and I think they were tired. We were tired by game four that’s for sure,” she said.

The tournament was good for the Cyclones as it allowed them to focus on areas that needed improvement.

“We were focusing in on less turnovers and executing our offence. These are the key factors we need to improve on,” McLean said.

“We need to be a little bit more disciplined and locked in for sure. And if we do that good things will happen.”

A standout in the Humboldt game and right in the trenches was grade 11 student Logan Temple.

“She is a quick little guard. She gave us a couple of good baskets.”

This is Logan’s first year playing senior basketball.

Team wise she saw the day as a positive one for the entire team with with everyone contributing well.

Central Cyclones Logan Temple (center) is surrounded by Humboldt Mohawks players. Temple played a strong and solid game where she was often in toe to toe battles for the ball - MJ Independent photo

The Scoresheet

Spirits Short But Battle On

Vanier Spirits - 21

Meadow Lake Spartans - 43

It was a case of too many sports commitments that saw the Vanier Spirits running a short bench on Saturday.

The commitments saw the Spirits with a very short bench and a very tired team that nevertheless battled on.

It was a hard hill to climb as the Spirits initially hung in against the Souls throwing out a strong press and a series of traps to contain the Souls.

Vanier Spirits head coach Miguel Cruz was happy with the effort of the team who despite the short bench set up and spiked in a good effort.

“I think this was amazing. Being down three girls and coming out with seven players it was great. I think we’re really proud of the girls they came out and showed what Vanier’s basketball is all about,” Cruz said.

Asked about what had been a very successful press against the Souls and then it just ran out of gas he said yes it was because they only had seven players..

“ With a short bench, it’s very difficult. We only had seven players. Our players did well while pressing. They love defence.”

About the initial defensive success he saw it as the product of hard work.

“I was quite surprised. It worked out kind of well. Our girls kept on working hard and it was close for the first 10 minutes,” Cruz said.

Defence is a big initiative for Cruz as he sees it as the way to success in the game.

“I’m a firm believer that defence wins championships. And our girls were very aggressive on the press and playing zone defence,” Cruz said.

Cruz, who is in his fifth year of coaching girls basketball at Vanier used the defence first philosophy to capture two city league junior girls crowns.

Fatigue was a major factor for the Spirits especially later in the game.

“As we got tired our shots just weren’t going in. We couldn’t buy a bucket for a bit otherwise we would have come out with a closer result. But it all boils down to not enough players.”

In Friday’s two wins the Spirits had a full bench.

“I think we did a really good job. There’s some things we could work on. They worked hard right to the bed end,” he said.