With the opportunity of snapping a winless streak spanning more than three decades of the McLeod Series, the ECS senior basketball teams have a hill to climb, but it’s manageable.
The teams headed to Weyburn last Wednesday where the boys lost the opening game 68-63 and the girls were edged out as well, 47-45, leaving the teams with seven points to pick up in the final games to be played at ECS this evening.
For boys head coach Shane Ross, that gap is significant, noting those points can be added to the Weyburn Eagles score at the start of the games in Estevan tonight.
The boys had a flat start, getting out of the second half down 34-24.
“Both teams have met before, and each time it was kind of a blow out win for one or the other. This time it was more of an even match once we got back into it in the second half,” said Ross, who noted in the second half, the Elecs boys took fewer jump shots and focused of driving to the basket.
He said the Elecs didn’t play particularly well, but they were lucky that the Eagles didn’t seem to put anything away either.
“Both teams played bad and it seemed like it was the battle of the worst teams. It was mostly nerves though I think. Both teams felt a pressure; one to defend, one to take over,” said Ross.
“We were caught off guard to begin with and we came out flat. Our team needed a kick-start, especially in their gym, but we definitely didn’t get that,” added Dustin Wilson, assistant coach. “We were playing from behind the entire game because of it. It cost us in the end.”
That’s not something Ross wants to be doing on a home court tonight.
“It’s about finding something to get them going in the first quarter because otherwise we’re only playing 30 minutes of basketball while Weyburn plays 40,” he said. “We can’t shoot ourselves in the foot.”
“If we come out flat again we’re going to be in the same predicament again,” said Wilson.
While it was considered a haphazard team effort, the first game of the series wasn’t without its leading players. Wyatt Haux led the Elecs with 19 points, followed by Mitchell Clark with 18 and Matt Haux with 17.
“I think we needed to play as a team and nobody really had that mentality. If I had to think of one guy who played his heart out it was Mitch, but that’s no surprise.
Tonight’s games start at 5:30.
Lack of scoring leads to loss
ECS girls fall in first match of McLeod series
A lackluster first half and foul trouble resulted in a loss for the Estevan Comprehensive School’s girls basketball team, despite a second half comeback that led to a one point lead with less than a minute left in the game.
With less than 20 seconds left, a broken play led to a fast break layup for the Weyburn Eagles, who were letting the game slip away in the final minutes.
Free throws hammered the nail in the coffin and the Eagles won 47-45.
Kristen Skjonsby scored 20 points for Estevan.
“We did not play at all,” said Jessie Smoliak, head coach of the Elecs as she described the start of the game.
Macy Earl got into early foul trouble for the Elecs, racking up three in the first half.
“Losing her really hurt us,” Smoliak said.
Loose balls and easy baskets under the net seemed to elude the Elecs all game. Smoliak noted mental lapses resulted in several breakdowns, the most prominent one happening near the end of the game.
“We had trouble scoring,” she said. “There was a lack of ball movement, and we didn’t rebound very well.”
Smoliak did acknowledge their admirable defensive performance, which ultimately held the Eagles to under 50 points and made scoring a challenging task for their forwards.
She said the Elecs were excited to play but ultimately fell flat early on, attributing some of the nerves to the loud home crowd in Weyburn.
The road team wasn’t left hanging as members of the ECS Student Representative Council arranged for dozens of students to travel to Weyburn to cheer on the Elecs.
“It was great to see the students organizing the trip and supporting our team,” Smoliak said.
Despite losing the first match of the McLeod series, the Elecs are very much looking forward to the second half of the McLeod series, which is taking place tonight at 5:15 at ECS.
The combined seven-point deficit ECS teams face is not a large hill to climb according to the Elecs’ head coach, who hopes the home crowd matches the intensity found in Weyburn.
“This is fire for us,” Smoliak said.
