OLDS — It’s been a rocky time lately for École Olds High School basketball teams.
The JV girls and boys hosted their home tournament Dec. 3 and 4 at the Community Learning Campus.
The girls lost a close game on Friday to Bow Valley School 53-48 but then went on to win the consolation side of the tournament, defeating Banff 48-36, and West Central of Rocky Mountain House 58-35.
“They played the entire weekend without one of their main players, Claire Andrew, who would have made a difference," principal Tom Christensen wrote in an email.
“They felt good about the balance in scoring and need to work on dealing with full court pressure,” he added. “An excellent start to the season.”
The JV boys won their first game against Banff and then lost a close overtime game in the semifinals.
The third place game was a challenge because they lost a few players to injury and ended up losing the game.
In senior basketball action, the senior boys lost to Springbank by 30 in their first game, defeated Banff in the second game, but lost in the consolation final to Our Lady of the Snows of Canmore.
The senior girls played in Lacombe.
They defeated West Central of Rocky Mountain House to get into the semifinals.
However, in that game, they were up against a tough opponent -- Lacombe Composite, which ended up winning the tournament.
“We kept it close for three-quarters of the game, but they pulled away to a 30-point win," wrote Christensen, who serves as one of the team’s co-coaches.
In the third place game, the Spartans took on HJ Cody of Sylvan Lake, who eventually won the game, 54-51.
“It really came down to who scored last as it was close all game,” Christensen wrote.
