Since returning to play two weeks ago, the Carlton Crusaders senior A boys basketball team has taken the 5A division by storm, winning two tournaments in a row.
First, they won it all in Lloydminster, and added another first place run in Estevan last weekend. Crusaders coach Tom Hazzard says it’s great to see his team competing so well after being sidelined from playing in any tournaments since December.
“Our team played quite well,” Hazzard said. “We played with a lot of speed and a lot of urgency. That was really good to see out of our team. It turned out to be a really good tournament. We beat three really good teams, and we played well all the way through.”
Carlton beat Swift Current, and then took down Melfort in the semi finals, before beating Estevan in the final to capture gold. Hazzard is proud of how his team has played so far this season, and thinks they stack up well against the rest of their competition.
“We like how we’re playing right now, and we know we’re going to play against teams that can score,” he said. “We’re focusing on our defence moving forward. We obviously want to stay healthy as well, and try to avoid all the things that have caused us problems already.”
After such a long pause between the holiday break up to their first tournament back, it was a long time off the court in a game type of atmosphere. When the Crusaders returned to the court in Lloydminster and Estevan to resume play, Hazzard said it was an exciting time for the entire team, after being uncertain of when they would be able to play again.
“I could see a lot of excitement to get back on the court for the first time,” he said. “You could really see the energy in the kids. Despite winning a few games, they’re staying humble, they’re working hard, and they know what they need to get better at. That’s a good thing moving forward.
“I think the biggest thing that we’ve gotten better at in the last couple of weeks is our ability to set the pace of a game. We play very fast, and if we can set the pace in a game, it’s beneficial to our team. They understand some of the systems that we’re trying to run. You can practice and practice, but putting it into a game is a different story, and they’ve done a good job of that.”
The confidence of any team after winning two tournaments in a row would be extremely high. Hazzard says that his group does feel a certain level of confidence, but they’re trying not to get ahead of themselves.
“We want to take things one game at a time,” he said. “We can never take any steps ahead of ourselves. We’re looking ahead to our next game, and we’re continuing to work hard in practice and just have fun along the way.”
The Crusaders hit the hardwood again this weekend in Prince Albert. They’ll be playing in the senior A boys tournament at Ecole St. Mary High School.
Their first game is Thursday at 6pm against Estevan. They have Friday off, but play twice on Saturday: 11am against Aden Bowman, and 6:30pm against Walter Murray.
As for the Marauders, they’ll play against Aden Bowman at 4:30 on Thursday. On Friday, they have one game against Estevan at 8:00pm. Their last game is on Saturday at 8:00pm against Warman.
@kyle_kosowan•sports@paherald.sk.ca
