The Swift Current Comp. Senior Colts boys basketball team had their ups and downs at a weekend tournament in North Battleford resulting in a third place finish.
The Colts won twice, wins that bookended their worst performance of the season in their final tune-up before the provincial playoffs begin this weekend.
The Colts opened the tournament with a 77-37 win over the Lloydminster Comp. Barons. They used their press to create turnovers leading to some easy early buckets and quickly put the game out of reach. Jordan Bloom led the Colts with 25 points, followed by a 10-point effort from Ian Hayes and nine points from Marshall Siemens.
The Colts met the rival Yorkton Regional Raiders in the semi-final and never even made a game of it, losing 90-44.
“Offensive ineptitude coupled with defensive indifference equaled an absolute whipping at the hands of the Raiders. The Raiders were focused and ready to play; we were not,” explained Colts head coach Adam Jackson.
Jackson figured his team was down by 22 points before they even scored their first basket before trailing 27-6 after one quarter and 46-16 at halftime.
“We consistently turned the ball over in our front court and that led to easy hoops for the Raiders. Our poorest effort of the season. We just rolled over and let them do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted,” he added.
Ian Hayes led the Colts with 25 points and Clayton Gerbrandt added eight.
The Colts rebounded in the bronze medal game with a 62-53 win over Moose Jaw AE Peacock. Jackson thought the team competed hard at both ends of the court with active defense, improved rebounding, and some good outside shooting.
“Peacock is a solid team but they seemed to tire in the fourth quarter due to our constant defensive pressure,” said Jackson.
Matthew Bissonnette scored 12 points, while Hayes and Jaylen Mayall both added 10 points.
The Colts will be in Estevan this weekend for a four-team Conference Tournament. The top two teams will advance to Regionals the following weekend. The Colts, who enter the weekend with a 17-6 record, are hoping for a first-place finish to give themselves a chance to host Regionals.
