In the tradition of major basketball tournaments every March, the Bow Valley saw its own version - a mountain madness, if you will, at Our Lady of the Snows school.
Bow Valley teams showcased a presence on the court last weekend with two podium finishes, including a first-ever South Central Jr. Boys basketball zone championship for the host school.
The OLS Avalanche secured the championship after a valiant 55-50 comeback victory over Three Hills Royals, Saturday (March 5).
Avalanche player Noah Arvisais scored a team-high 12 points, Isaac Wilson put in 11 and Rahul Sharma added nine points for the talented team.
Head coach Matthew Keefe said it was a pretty exciting game for the mountain squad that hit its stride in the third quarter.
“It was a strong showing for the team in the second half (of the championship game),” said Keefe. “We chipped away in the third, but were still down going into the fourth.”
The game came down to a shutdown defensive strategy, causing pivotal turnovers, and hitting important free throws on the other end of the court.
“The guys made some big shots down the stretch,” said Keefe.
OLS was perfect in the tournament, going 4-0, including a round robin win over Banff Community High School Bears.
The Bears were no slouches on the court, though, taking bronze home after a relentless, back and forth double overtime 51-48 win against the Red Deer Lake Dragons.
Bears head coach Jeffrey Hamilton-Bedard spoke to the thrilling affair following the bronze medal game.
“Both overtimes we were ahead, we lost it, ahead again, lost it, we always got the lead, but we were never able to seal it,” said Hamilton-Bedard.
Two clutch free throws with 15 seconds left secured the game for the Bears.
“Overall, I have to give credit to the kids,” said Hamilton-Bedard. “We played a game before hand, so we basically played 10 straight quarters with no break, so forget about the coaches, it was all about the kids today.”
The Bears split the tournament, going 2-2 against their competition.
“The game we lost beforehand was a heartbreaker, but the kids kept their heads up,” said Hamilton-Bedard.
