The J. L. Crowe basketball season is heating up with junior and senior boys and girls teams seeing lots of action on the hard court in the coming weeks.
This past weekend the Sr. Boys Hawks basketball team traveled to Creston to play in the annual Prince Charles Secondary Invitational. The boys started their weekend off with a Friday night matchup against Mount Baker from Cranbrook. The Hawks led 11-8 after the first quarter, but for the rest of the game they trailed their opponents and never reclaimed their early lead. Ayden McNamee led the team in points (11) and knocked down two out of five three-point attempts. Despite a good fourth quarter effort, the Hawks fell short to the Wild, 65-44.
On Saturday, the Hawks played the Salmo Falcons for the second time this season. The Hawks came out of the first quarter with a 19-12 lead. They would lead for the majority of the next two quarters until Salmo grabbed a one-point lead after three quarters of play. Ezekiel Colwell and Tristan Berno quickly got the offence started for the Hawks in the fourth. The duo pulled down crucial offensive rebounds to give their team much needed second chance opportunities and points to finally pull away. Antonio Pasqualotto and Nahum Colwell quickly cashed in opportunities to increase the team’s lead further. The Hawks outscored the Falcons 26-15 in the final frame to secure the teams first victory of 2017.
Tristan Berno netted 10 points and 12 rebounds and Nahum Colwell counted 13 points and 10 rebounds, completing their first double-doubles of the season in a close game that ended 71-61 in favour of the Hawks. Pasqualotto (16 points) and Ezekiel Colwell (14 points, 2 blocks) led the team in points.
The Hawks final game of the tournament came against the Invermere Lakers. The Hawks struggled to get their offence going in the first quarter, only scoring four points. They were down 27-4 after the first quarter. They continued to play hard to get back into the game. At halftime, the score was 41-23 for Invermere. The Hawks immediately resorted to a full-court man-to-man press in hopes of sparking something in their team. The Hawks found great success in the full court press, as they were able to come back within four. Unfortunately, the Hawks were unable to complete the comeback losing 78-74. Julian Jinjoe was an integral part and finished the game with 19 points.
On Tuesday, the Sr. Boys and Girls Hawks hosted their counterparts from Mt. Sentinel. The Sr. Boys team was up early leading 19-18 at the quarter, but Mt. Sentinel made a run in the second half for a 71 – 57 victory. The Mt. Sentinel Sr. Girls also played well, beating the Hawks’ 48-31.
“We’re off to a slow start this year,” said Sr. Boys basketball coach Corey Colwell. “It’s been difficult with the kids juggling school, work etc. That’s being said; it’s starting to slowly come together. It’s a young team so that’s an advantage for next year.”
On Thursday, Nakusp is in town bringing their Jr. and Sr. Boys teams. The Juniors play at 3:30 p.m. followed by the Seniors at 5 p.m. in the Crowe gymnasium. On the weekend, the two teams are headed to tournaments in the East Kootenay, while the Sr. Girls travel to Fernie and the Jr. Boys to Creston.
