Carlton boys hoping to capture provincial glory

Herald File Photo. The Carlton Crusaders are 5A Boys regional champions.

The 5A boys regional tournament went just about perfectly for the Carlton Crusaders.

Carlton took home the regional tournament thanks to a perfect 4-0 record, including three matches that were won in a decisive third set.

The Crusaders won in three sets over Warman, Lloydminster and St. Mary. Carlton took home a straight sets win over North Battleford.

Carlton head coach Curtis Bender says his team has been getting better at every tournament and that showed at regionals.

“It was massive. A really big confidence booster for guys. We worked so hard all year, and we were trending up all year, in the right direction we got better and better every weekend. The hard work really paid off.”

In terms of what led to the success for Carlton, Bender gave a lot of credit to his players for buying in and executing in big moments

“I thought we served fairly well. I thought that our defense really came into effect and I thought we were really well prepared and I thought we executed our game plan. I think that’s what put us over the top. We had a game plan going in and we executed very, very well.”

The Carlton boys will compete in Pool A at provincials in Balgonie and White City this weekend. Other teams in Pool A include Swift Current, Saskatoon Aden Bowman, Regina Winston Knoll and Regina LeBoldus.

Bender says Carlton will need to play to their strengths to find success.

“We’re going to have to put pressure on the other team. That starts with serving well. We’re going to really have to go at them and hopefully get teams out of system and making sure that we can get some free balls so that way we can be the aggressor. Just defense and serve tough, that’s been the key to our game.”

Carlton hosted provincials last year and fell just short of the podium with a fourth place finish. With multiple returning players coming back from last year’s team, Bender says he is confident Carlton will have a strong finish if they can play as a team.

“We have six guys returning. In order to get back, we’re just going to have to stay together as a team. There’s going to be ebbs and flows, lots of good teams. Things don’t always go your way so just making sure we stick with it, stick with the game plan.”

Bender added that he is extremely proud of the growth shown by his team throughout the season.

“We came from a long way, we really grinded this year. I think we tied for last in the first tournament of the year and we just kept working and getting better and better. I’m so proud of these guys of how far we’ve come. It’s been pretty amazing to see where we started from and where we are right now.”

Carlton opens provincial action on Friday at noon in White City against Swift Current. The St. Mary Marauders boys did not qualify for provincials, see Saturday’s edition of the Herald for a season recap.

sports@paherald.sk.ca

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