The Charles Hays Rainmakers had successful road trip, defeating the Caledonia Kermodes in back-to-back games 79-57 and 70-47 on Feb. 2 and 3 in Terrace.
Coach Ryan Bishop said while the team got the victories, there are still areas where they need to improve as zones and provincial approach.
“We’re doing OK,” he said. “But we’re still having some defensive lapses and letting other teams get back into games at times.”
Bishop said the Rainmakers have been experimenting with different defensive schemes at times during games, and it has thrown them off their rhythm. However, once they return to their base, man-to-man scheme, they are able to take over games again.
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An example of this was the opening game on Feb. 2, where the Rainmakers trailed 19-20 after the first quarter, a position the team is not accustomed to being in. Bishop said the Kermodes also keyed in on the Rainmaker’s two forwards, Liam McChesney and Kai Leighton, forcing other members of the team to step up.
“They got a little bit more physical with them for sure,” he said. “They know that those are the two guys they needed to stop.”
Bishop said other members of the team were up to the challenge, pointing to Ezekiel Elliot and Eric Lees who both came off the bench to provide scoring and defence. The Rainmakers took over the game in the second half to win comfortably.
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In the second game on Feb. 3, the Rainmakers got out to a faster start, outscoring Caledonia 20-10 in the quarter with McChesney scoring 16 points. However, further defensive troubles in the second quarter allowed the Kermodes to go on a 10-2 run to tie the game. Bishop said more contributions from the team’s second unit allowed the Rainmakers to pull away in the second half.
“It was nice to see the guys on the bench who haven’t had many opportunities step up when we needed them,” he said. “It was good to see.”
The Rainmakers next head to Prince George on Feb. 8 and 9 to play against the Duchess Park Condors. Bishop said he is hoping to see his team perform to the best of their ability against high level competition.
“We need to get 35 minutes of solid defence not 40,” he said.
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