CANORA — The Canora Composite School Cougars senior girls basketball team gave a strong effort at regionals on March 17-18 but came up just short in the final game against the host team from Wynyard, ranked first in the province in the 2A division.
The CCS girls entered regionals ranked ninth, which matched them against the eighth-ranked Rocanville Rara Avis in the first game on Friday, according to coach Steve Merriam of the Cougars.
“This was a rematch,” said Merriam. “The only other meeting this year was at Canora’s home tournament, and Rocanville had come out on top by two. The Cougars had made some defensive changes and felt good going into the game. This turned out to be one of Canora’s best games of the season. The defence stepped up to force turnovers, which led to offensive opportunities. Canora was able to effectively shut down Rocanville’s outside shooters and use our height advantage inside to defend shots and gain rebounds.”
The Cougars played a strong all-around game and came away with a 50-36 victory led by 16 points from captain Elley Tomcala, earning Canora it’s 10th straight appearance in a regional final. The opponent for the Saturday game was the top-ranked Wynyard Bears, led by Morgan Otsig.
“Our game plan was to keep up defensive intensity and key on Otsig to force the ball out of her hands to create turnovers,” explained Merriam. “The girls kept to the game plan and played hard right to the end, but the Bears proved to be too strong, led by Otsig’s 25 points. The final score was Wynyard 64, Canora 37.”
Canora’s top scorers were shooting guard Bella Mykytyshyn with 9 points, centre Zoe Thomas with 8, and point guard Lexie Biletski also with 8.
Merriam said he’s proud of the team members and the way they handled the ups and downs of the past season.
“The team dealt with much adversity this season,” he continued. “Many of our games were cancelled due to COVID restrictions and two players were injured for the regional tournament. In spite of the adversity, the competitive spirit of our team remained. Every player on the team gave their best effort right to the end of the season.”
Merriam expressed his gratitude to graduating players Bella Mykytyshyn, Elley Tomcala, Lexie Biletski and Breanne Woloshyn, and offered them best wishes as they complete Grade 12 and go on to their post secondary plans.
“A huge thank you to coach Olivia Gordon who made the season possible. Without her, the team would not have gone as far as they did. She and I were able to compliment each other’s coaching attributes and together made a strong coaching team. A special thank you to Kimberly Merriam, manager and teacher supervisor, for the team organization and her positivity and good energy she brings to all that she does,” concluded Merriam.
