The Canora Composite School (CCS) senior girls basketball team hosted a four-team tournament on February 5. Organizers said that, in these pandemic times “it felt like a victory just to complete the tournament with no COVID-related cancellations.”
The other teams competing in the tournament were from: Kamsack, Rocanville and Melville.
In keeping with updated Good Spirit School Division guidelines, only parents and guardians were allowed to attend the games.
Since it was difficult finding officials, CCS head coach Steve Merriam officiated all tournament games, and co-coach Olivia Gordon, a third-year education student who is interning at CCS, took over as CCS head coach for the day.
The Cougars lost their first game by the score of 43 to 41 to Rocanville, the eventual tournament champion, but this contest was close throughout and easily could have gone either way.
After battling to a tied score at the end of the first quarter, the Cougars worked their way into a five-point lead in the second. But Rocanville poured in 11 straight points to take a 25 to 19 lead at halftime, and stretched it out to a 16-point lead in the third quarter. The Cougars refused to quit, but just ran out of time at the end.
In the other semifinal, Melville edged out KCI Spartans (Kamsack) by the score of 48 to 47, setting up the consolation final game between CCS and the Spartans.
Once again, it was a tight game early, with the Cougars clinging to a 16 to 14 halftime lead.
But the CCS players appeared to find their offensive rhythm in the second half, breaking the game open with 27 points in the third quarter. The final score was 65 to 34 for the Cougars.
Cougars Coach Olivia Gordon said being head coach of the team for the first time was nerve-wracking, but that was not surprising.
“My co-coach Steve and my players made the transition easy,” shared Gordon. “I have had experience in the past coaching as head coach in hockey, but this was my first-time basketball-wise. Coaching basketball has had a different competitive aspect come out in me, and I like that.”
With a record of one win and one loss for the tournament, Gordon said she was proud of the performance of the Cougars.
“Offensively I would assess our play as cooperative and strong. Our team worked with one another passing, communicating, and running plays. Defensively we played a hard and concrete defense. I can’t wait to continue our season!”
Coach Gordon was impressed with the growth of her team from the close opening loss to the consolation final victory.
“In our first game, a lot of the plays we worked on in practice weren't going the way we expected,” said Gordon. “In our second game, we implemented our plays with success. I was proud of our team's performance of position and pressing. With COVID, we have had game after game canceled so just seeing our players feeling natural on the court is a success in my mind.”
Students having the opportunity to get back to being involved in extra-curricular activities such as basketball is an important aspect of their mental health and personal development.
“As an education student and substitute educational assistant, I have seen the negative results of school activities being canceled,” assessed Gordon. “I am just thankful school activities were not canceled entirely this year. There is nothing better than going to the school for practice or games and seeing my team's smiles.”
Gordon expressed her appreciation to the players, Steve and Kim Merriam, the rest of the CCS students and staff, along with the town of Canora “for welcoming me in with open arms. I can't even begin to explain how grateful I am. I look forward to a future in Canora!”
Rocanville won the championship final of the Canora tournament over Melville by the score 69 to 55.
