Submitted by:
Kevin Carter |
On Friday and Saturday, January 27th and 28th, 2017 the Swan Valley Tigers Varsity Boys team participated in the Neelin Invitational basketball tournament hosted by Neelin High School in Brandon.
File Photo | Courtesy of Rob McDonald
The format of the tournament was a modified round robin with the SVRSS boys playing the three Brandon high school teams over the weekend. Crocus Plains, Vincent Massey and Neelin.
Our weekend started on Friday afternoon against the Crocus Plains Plainsmen. The boys got off to a good start offensively and had to make some adjustments defensively as we went through the game. We held a 9 point lead at the half and were able to continue with steady scoring in the second half. We opened the lead to 15 points at the end of the third and continued on to an 88 – 63 win. Definitely our best offensive output of the season. Riley Munro led all scorers with 20 points with Tre Fleury and David Muller putting up 19 apiece. Chase Ellingson chipped in with 14.
Game 2 of the weekend took place on Saturday morning against the Vikings of Vincent Massey. They were a team we had lost to quite badly in mid-December and we wanted to ensure we put forth a better effort and better showing this time around, win or lose. This was a tight game in the first half as both teams traded buckets. The score was tied at 29 at the half. We were able to sneak out a 5 point lead at the end of the third quarter as we started to execute offensively and knock down some outside shots. Vincent Massey is a team with many quality shooters that moved the ball well and we did our best to keep up with their ball movement and challenge them on the perimeter. Our 5 point lead swelled to 10 in the early going of the 4th quarter, but we had a cold stretch as they caught fire from the 3-point line and they pulled ahead by 6 with less than 3 minutes to go. A couple of timely 3 point buckets by David Muller and some good defense in the last minute or and we had tied the game. They had the last shot in regulation that I thought we defended well and sent the game to overtime. Similar to the rest of the game, the overtime period was tight with both teams trading scores. We were fortunate to hit a 3 point shot toward the end of the overtime to take the lead. A clutch free throw by Michael Chartrand extended the lead to four with under 5 seconds remaining and that turned out to be the winner as Massey hit a 3 of their own at the buzzer. We escaped with a 72 – 71 overtime win in what was the best game of the weekend for us. David Muller had 36 in this one with Chase Ellingson and Riley Munro chipping in with 11 and 8 respectively.
Game 3 was against the host Neelin Spartans who are currently the #4 ranked team in AAA Varsity boys basketball in Manitoba. They are a solid team with size and play with a lot of speed in all aspects of the game. We were caught on our heels early and not able to match that speed for the better part of the game. We did settle down a bit later into the game, but had to work hard to get every opportunity. The game was a good test for us. Neelin had jumped out to an 18 point halftime lead and held that throughout the second half with the final being 74 – 48 in favour of Neelin. Leading scorers for the game for Swan Valley were David Muller with 12 and Tre Fleury with 9.
Overall, I would categorize it as a very successful weekend for our team. We ended up with 2 wins and a loss which is better than anticipated, but that came with improving on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. We have been emphasizing that a lot in practice since the break and 6 games into the second half of our season, we are seeing improvements. We need to continue to be aggressive in attacking the rim and putting the defense on its’ heels. It also helps us get into an offensive rhythm where we have movement and not relying heavily on the hot and cold swings of outside shooting. We continue to have work to do, but there is definitely improvement shown.
Next up for us is the Hoops for Hope Varsity Boys tournament hosted by Linden Christian in Winnipeg on February 3rd and 4th. We are looking forward to building on the progress we have made to date. Thanks to our bus driver, Rick Kreshewski, for providing expert big yellow taxi service to, from and within Brandon for the weekend.