The Correlieu senior Clan girls basketball team were perfect last weekend, perfect hosts and perfect on the court as they won all three of their games to take top spot at the home tournament.
The Senior Clan girls took the tournament final 74-32 against Tumbler Ridge Saturday afternoon, after besting Fort St. James and the Quesnel junior secondary Spartans.
Senior Clan coach, Marilyn Morgan, was pleased with the effort and improvement of her players.
“They showed more confidence in driving to the hoop,” she said.
Senior Clan center and team captain, Alison Merta, noted there was also an improvement in the way the Clan played as a team.
“We meshed well together and we were able to communicate well on the court,” she said.
Although the senior Clan won the tournament final handily, the end result was not evident in the first quarter.
The Clan picked up five personal fouls early, to put the team from Tumbler Ridge in the bonus situation and consequently shooting extra free throws which allowed them to keep pace with the Clan.
Clan coach, Marilyn Morgan, said she wasn’t concerned about the early foul trouble.
“I want the girls to be aggressive,” she said.
With a slim 14-9 lead after the first quarter, the Clan took control of the paint as they settled down on both defence and offence, stretching their lead to 34-13 by half-time.
The third and fourth quarters saw much of the same as the Clan used their backdoor play to score almost at will, while on defence pushing the Tumbler Ridge team off the shot clock on several occasions.
Morgan was not surprised by the relatively easy win for her team and admitted her team would face more difficult competition.
“We’re not always going to score at will like we did today,” Morgan said.
It is a tournament in Kamloops next weekend, Morgan said, where the ability of her team will be put to the test.
“Then we’ll know if we’re ready to play,” she said.
“We need to work on our man-to-man defence.
“Defence wins championships.”
From a players point of view, Merta added she and her teammates needed to learn how to shrug off mistakes and refocus on the game.
“We need to focus on the game and not let ourselves be distracted by mistakes we make,” she said.
The CSS junior Clan girls team ended up in fifth spot with a win over the QJS Spartans who stepped in to fill a spot left vacant by a Prince George team unable to travel as a result of the wintery road conditions.
As with all varsity teams, the learning experience is enhanced by participating in tournaments, which, Morgan said, add travel costs to the team budget. To help raise funds the teams are selling dry fir firewood and interested buyers can call, 250-747-7417.