With plenty of new faces and lots to learn, coach Mike Lynn is pleased with a two and two start for the SHSS junior Bulldogs.
The Stanley Humphries junior boys basketball team defeated their Nelson rivals from L.V. Rogers 43-35 in their first game of the season on Jan. 10 at SHSS. Shayden Groshaw led the Bulldogs with 16 points, while Jared Lynn and Clarke Morris added eight each.
“We started fairly well but we’ve got a lot of things we want to implement and a lot of new players so there’s definitely a few kinks to work out,” said Bulldogs’ coach Mike Lynn. “We led for most of the game. They took the lead at one point, but we came back pretty fast. The key to win was our defence. That’s what we emphasize in practice and it was us limiting their shots. We had a few 30 second violations (on the other team), some excellent full court pressure, and keeping them off our end. That’s what works every time.”
Lynn said the offence was solid as well.
“Considering it was our first game of the season, our offence was exceptionally good,” he said. “Lots of room to improve but a very good first game.”
On the weekend, the junior boys travelling to Trail for the J.L. Crowe tournament where they won one of three games.
On Friday, the Bulldogs beat Grand Forks 45-41 behind a balanced attack which was led by Matt Anderson’s six points.
The following day, SHSS struggled to score and lost to L.V. Rogers 34-22.
“No one could score for us – the basket seemed to have a lid on it,” said Lynn. “LVR played excellent half court defence. I was still pleased with the excellent defensive effort from our boys.”
In the team’s final game, they lost 55-43 to Prince Charles Secondary from Creston. Groshaw led the Bulldogs with 10 points.
“Overall, the team is starting the season with very good defence,” said Lynn. “Game experience will only make us tougher on the defensive side of the ball. The first year players are showing improvement over just four games. Everyone is now more comfortable with our strengths and weaknesses. Second year players are all showing a determined effort to play hard and execute at both ends of the floor. Our two and two record shows great promise.”
The Bulldogs host their home tournament this weekend with four other teams (J.L. Crowe, Rossland, Mount Sentinel and Boundary Central from Midway) joining SHSS.
The tournament starts Friday at noon with the home team playing J.L. Crowe. Games go until 7:30 p.m. on Friday and are back on at 8:30 a.m. Saturday with Rossland playing Crowe. The tournament wraps up with a 2:30 p.m. match-up between SHSS and Boundary Central.
