The senior boys basketball team at Charles Hays Secondary School (CHSS) may just rise even higher in the rankings after another strong weekend.
Fresh off being named the No. 6 AAA team in B.C., the Rainmakers swept three teams from Smithers and Terrace in a home playday weekend. The team beat Smithers Secondary School (SSS) 131-82 on Friday night, then took down Caledonia Secondary School (CSS) 77-52 in a well-fought affair on Saturday afternoon. Finally, the boys dominated Centennial Christian School (CCS) 98-47 for the weekend sweep.
“I think we played very well. Defensively, we still have some improvement and also rebounding, but we’re doing very well offensively,” coach Mel Bishop said after the final game.
He said the guys have a free mind now in terms of playing in the offensive end.
“We shoot the ball well, we’re attacking, making some good passing decisions, running our offence,” he said.
Now it’s just a matter of tightening up defensively as the team continues to prepare for zones in a few weeks.
Bishop said the toughest game of the tournament was against Caledonia.
“Defensively, they work very hard. It’s reflected in the lower scores. They did a good job defensively and guard well,” he said.
It was a physical battle between the two teams, with CHSS pulling out the win in the end.
The scoring was well-distributed over the weekend rather than just a couple of guys leading the way. Against Smithers, Liam McChesney had a game to remember, scoring 35 points. Malcolm Brown had 22 and Ben Rabel knocked down 14.
In the low-scoring match against Caledonia, McChesney led the charge again with 21 points and Dionte Stephens scored 14 as well. Against Centennial, Quinn Leighton and Rabel each had 16 and Stephens scored 13.
Coming up this weekend, the Rainmakers host the Duchess Park Condors for a weekend of games. Both the junior and senior boys teams will be making the trek to Rupert to take on the CHSS teams.
