It was a case of déjŕ vu all over again at the 2011 Peaks basketball tournament, as the Skizziks and Maidens both repeated their championship runs.
The Skizziks, made up mostly of university and college players from Calgary, dominated play with deft shooting and a great fast break game in the Under 35 Peaks tournament on May 1 in Canmore.
The Skizziks carried the final, downing the Lethbridge Longhorns 73-52 in a game that was called early. The defending champs built up a 30-point lead by the half, and cruised the rest of the way. The Longhorns mounted a third quarter charge, but were never within reach of the lead despite holding a definite size advantage over the Calgary club.
Point guard Graeme Mitchell, a top player with the University of Alberta, led the team on the back end. He marshaled a strong ball movement game, feeding the offence through former All-Canadian Chris Biegler, who was a threat from the paint and from behind the three point line.
“We hit our shots and ran the ball. We let everyone get a touch and ran the floor,” Mitchell said. “It’s been an unbelievable tournament and I’ll definitely be back again to defend the title.”
Members of Canmore’s Pika team, along with a few friends, held their own for the first half against the Skizziks in the semi-finals, but had no answer for the hot shooting from the champs. The Skizziks won 92-54 over the local team.
“They’re a good team with some good shooters. We tried to take away their shots, but they adjusted to beat us inside. It was back and forth,” said team captain Jason Bailey, who usually plays with the University of Alberta.
Bailey said they were in the tournament to win, and were disappointed to lose out in the semi-finals.
“It’s tough, but we’ll come out again next year,” Bailey said.
On the women’s side, The Maidens used defence to pave their road to victory. The Edmonton-based team squared off in a grudge match against Calgary rivals in the final for the second year in a row.
The teams traded leads until the fourth, when the Maidens switched to a zone defence that confounded the Calgary forwards. That coincided with a big scoring run which saw the leading scorer Natalie Kiernan nail three three-pointers in the fourth quarter to secure the victory for the Edmonton team.
“Our defense created our offence,” said Maidens co-captain Stephanie Ballard. “We beat this team last year and it feels good to repeat.”
“It feels good to win, but we’re here to have fun. If we’re not smiling, we’re not having fun,” said co-captain Teresa Wallsten.
The skill level was extremely high at the 32nd annual Peaks tournament. Many top college and university players in the province made the trip to Canmore and Banff for the competition.
“That makes this the best tournament of its kind in Western Canada,” said organizer Glen Nelson.
