The basketball season officially got underway this past weekend for the Sacred Heart Saints senior boys鈥� basketball team as they made the 2.5 hour journey to Weyburn for their first tournament of the campaign.
Sacred Heart鈥檚 first opponent of the season was the Swift Current Colts. A strong start saw the Saints trail the 5A school by just five points, 28-23, after the first half, but a weak second half resulted in a disappointing 70-40 loss.
Brody Kormos and Jake Javier both had a team-high 11 points in the game while Kormos also hauled down 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
The loss dropped the Saints to the 鈥楤鈥� side competition where they played the Notre Dame Hounds; a team that they had success against last season, defeating the Hounds 65-40 in the final game of the season last year.
The Saints, confident that they could handle the Hounds, came out flying in their second game of the tournament, scoring 22 points in the first quarter while limiting Notre Dame to just eight of their own before their offence dried up in the second quarter, scoring just six points while allowing 16 for a narrow 28-24 lead at the half.
A fairly even third quarter saw the Saints push their lead to seven at 45-38; a lead they would increase by three more points throughout the final quarter for a 58-48 Sacred Heart victory. Senior Bryan Buzinski led the Saints with 13 points while Javier had 12 and Noah Clarke scored 11.
That win sent the Saints to the 鈥楤鈥� side finals against the Humboldt Mohawks. A double-double by Clarke (10 points, 10 rebounds) and a 10 point performance from the sharpshooting Javier proved to be not enough for the Saints in the 鈥楤鈥� side final however, as Sacred Heart fell 68-44.
Following the tournament Saints head coach Garrett Karcha said that he was satisfied with the way things went for his team at their first tournament, but noted that his team, much like last year, is still struggling to score. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still having some offensive struggles and there are things that we have to work on with our offence for sure,鈥� suggested Karcha, adding that once the grade 10鈥檚 get used to the pace of the senior game things will start getting easier offensively for his team. 鈥淭he first thing they said when they came off the court is that the game is a lot faster than what they鈥檙e used to in junior and it鈥檚 very tiring because they have to work a lot harder, but almost all the grade 10鈥檚 scored when they were out there.鈥�
Karcha added that once certain players, such as the offensively gifted Javier, start heating up that offence will also be much easier to come by. 鈥淗e was a little bit off this weekend,鈥� mentioned Karcha of Javier. 鈥淏ut he鈥檚 still a guy that we鈥檙e going to have to go to to get the majority of our points.鈥�
The next action for the Sacred Heart Saints senior boys鈥� basketball team will be in the New Year when they travel to Moose Jaw for a tournament on the weekend of January 8-9.
