The Correlieu Clan senior girls triple A basketball team finished in fourth place in their home tournament, as they faced some stiff competition from the Cariboo and beyond.
“We had some good teams here,” Clan coach Tracey Lust said of the double A teams from Kamloops, Prince George and Williams Lake.
“I was impressed with their execution and playing, it just wasn’t our weekend.”
The fourth-place finish, in the six-team tournament, came as a result of a 50-39 loss, Saturday afternoon, to the Valleyview Vikes from Kamloops.
The Vikes led the game from beginning to end, first posting an 11-6 lead after the first quarter and then exploding in the second quarter to stretch their lead to a comfortable 25-10.
Part of the success for the Vikes was in clogging the area under the basket, sometimes double and triple teaming the Clan’s Jordan Lange-Smith, playing the center or post position, leaving her with little to no room to put up quality shots.
The second quarter also saw the Clan shooters develop cement hands, missing a few layups, whereas the Vikes had Lady Luck on their side as they sank a handful of lucky shots.
Feeling the pressure, the Clan slipped into making a few bad decisions, forcing passes and taking shots they shouldn’t have.
“They were making bad decisions and they knew it,” Lust said of her players.
“They weren’t playing as a team.”
At halftime the Clan regrouped and played stronger third and fourth quarters and eventually closed the gap to 11 points by game’s end.
“It showed they had their heads back into the basketball game,” Lust said.
Part of their success was starting the fourth quarter with a full court press that caught the Vikes off guard and saw the Clan score a couple of quick baskets on turnovers.
“We didn’t have a good first half, but the girls did turn it around in the second half,” Lust said.
“It just wasn’t enough to win the game.”
Friday evening, following an afternoon loss to Williams Lake in front of a packed gym, the Clan posted a 56-40 win against the Fraser Lake Cougars.
The Clan executed well on offence, making smart and crisp passes, but struggled early on defence and picked up a few too many fouls, Lust explained.
The first half also saw the Cougars play a strong baseline game, often inducing the Clan defence to over-play the ball, which left one of their players open for an easy layup.
“We had to cut them off and not let them drive in,” Lust said of the strategy in dealing with the Cougars down low.
The foul-trouble allowed the Cougars to stay in the game early, especially in the first half of the game as they were almost perfect from the free-throw line.
But, the Clan, leading 29-17 at the half, eventually tigthened up on defence and committed fewer fouls to charge ahead in the second half.
In addition to the competitiveness displayed on the court, the Clan, in particular Aubrey Calvert, also showed empathy when a Cougars player accidently tripped over her foot and took a hard tumble to the floor.
As the Cougar coaches tended to the injured player, Calvert believing the incident was her fault fought hard to hold back her tears.
Teammates, trying to console Calvert also teared up.
“It was nice to see, it shows great sportsmanship,” Lust said of Calvert and her teammates.
On the scoresheet, Lange-Smith led the Clan with 17 points against the Cougars, with Ashley Mortenson and Shaylynn McCauley each adding six points.
Tournament MVP for the Clan went to point guard, Shelby Wilson.
“She kept the team spirit up and kept her head in the game,” Lust said.
“She’s good for our team.”
Nechako Valley took first place at the tournament in a close match against Williams Lake.
The Clan have an opportunity to return the favour to the Vikes when they travel to Kamloops, Jan. 27 ‒ 28, for a tournament hosted by Valleyview.
“Hopefully we’ll come back with a better outcome,” Lust said.
