In the first test of the might of area Jr. A. Boys basketball teams Dec. 14 at the Chinook's Edge Athletics Association tournament in Olds, they won two games and lost one.
The Olds High School team beat Innisfail 54-50 in the team's initial match, but coaches said they were pleased with what they saw.
“They ran their systems very well,” said J.T. Thompson, one of Innisfail's coaches. “Their passing was near perfect. The dribbling was really good.”
An aspect of the game the players learned to work on was the easy shots.
“They missed 26 open layups in the first half,” he said. “They're just a little bit rusty.”
The tournament featured three games apiece and doesn't affect league standings.
Innisfail's second game was against Olds Koinonia Christian School, which they won by 10 points.
“They improved upon what they were failing at in the game before,” he said. “They made the nice easy shots.”
Even though the team was losing by more than ten points at halftime, they battled back for the win in the latter part of the game.
The team's third game pitted Innisfail against Bowden. While several of the teams are made up primarily of Grade 9 players, like Innisfail, Bowden also has a large contingent of Grade 8s on their squad.
“They destroyed them,” Thompson said of Innisfail's success, noting the team beat Bowden by more than 40 points. “I was very impressed in how well the team did overall.”
