Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs senior boys basketball coach Carmon Lindquist is pleased with how the team played at its annual home tournament on the weekend, even though the Elecs came up short in the first place showdown with the Notre Dame Hounds.
The Elecs finished 2-1 at the tournament. They opened with an 84-64 victory Friday over their archrivals, the Weyburn Comprehensive School Eagles.
“I was really pleased with how we came out against Weyburn on Friday night,” said Lindquist. “We were able to get a lot of our rookies into that game, and played well.”
The victory came a few weeks before the Elecs will face the Eagles in the annual McLeod Series showdown, a best-of-four that has games in both Estevan and Weyburn for the senior boys and girls teams.
“Weyburn has come a long ways, and they’re a strong team, and we have to be prepared for them,” said Lindquist.
The Elecs raced out to a 23-10 lead after the first quarter, and led 48-25 at halftime. Weyburn outscored the Elecs 39-34 in the second half, but by then the game was virtually out of reach.
John Andres led the offensive attack with 24 points, and also had 10 rebounds. Francois Adaya added 19 points, included a trio of three-pointers for the Elecs.
Estevan’s second game was Saturday, an 82-69 victory over the Swift Current Colts. It was a good test for the Elecs, since the Colts are competing in the provincial 5A division with ECS and other teams.
The Elecs led 27-13 after the first quarter, and built the lead to 45-24 at the half. Swift Current outscored the Elecs 27-18 in the third quarter to pull within 12, but the Elecs pulled away again in the final frame before surrendering a few baskets late.
Anders once again led the offensive attack with 24 points, while Clark Cabiluna added 16.
In what proved to be the first place game, the Elecs dropped an 82-72 decision to the Notre Dame Hounds.
“That was a good team, a really good team, and we came out and we competed with them and gave them a run,” said Lindquist. “It was a pace that we hoped we could play at, was to play against a team like that. We have some takeaways from the games, but we’re building towards the end of season goals, where we need to go.”Â
Notre Dame led 19-12 after the first quarter, and built the lead to 40-30 after two quarters. The second half saw each team manage 42 points.
Anders led the team offensively with 30 points, including four from beyond the three-point line.
The Elecs did a lot of things well during the tournament, he said. They played well at both ends of the court, and they continue to work on finding structure for their offence.
That lack of structure was an issue at a recent tournament in Moose Jaw.
“They have picked it up and they have shown real improvement,” said Lindquist.
Up next for the Elecs will be a tournament in Swift Current. They expect to play four games in Swift Current. Then they will have a tournament in Yorkton, followed by the McLeod Series.
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