LAKELAND - The Cold Lake Royals doubled-down in the win column at a junior varsity high school basketball jamboree over the weekend, with each of the high school’s boys and girls’ JV teams netting undefeated records.
The invitational tournament, hosted by the JAWS JV Sharks on Saturday, drew the Notre Dame Wildcats from Bonnyville, the Cold Lake Royals and the home-team Sharks for a day long battle on the Bold Center courts.
Both of the Royals' teams went 2-0 on the day, claiming the jamboree wins.
Sharks assistant boys’ coach Jordan Johnson said the jamboree was a fun event outside of league play — and just ahead of league and provincial playdowns — to give the young teams more court action after a pandemic-shortened season. The JAWS JV teams have only played two games this season
“In a normal year, the kids would have played 12 games before playoffs, but in this case they only played a couple games,” said Johnson, who stepped into the head coaching duties of the boys’ team at the jamboree, covering for coach Andrew Booth who was not available.
Walk-on Sharks
The head coach wasn’t the only team member missing from the Sharks’ bench on Saturday. More than half of the regular roster of players couldn’t make the games, forcing a quick call-out to JAWS students who might want to put on a Sharks jersey.
“We did have a couple of kids that are out on COVID quarantine, two had to work and others just couldn’t make it,” said Johnson, who appreciates the last-minute additions. “We made some calls for the last game and really appreciate our students for coming out to fill the bench.”
The boys didn’t win either of their two jamboree games. The losses follow a defeat last Thursday to Bonnyville Composite High School’s JV squad in Lakeland Schools Athletic Association play. That loss ended the regular season for the JAWS boys.
Girls continue for Districts
The girls’ team from JAWS has had some better luck, winning a jamboree game against Notre Dame, but losing to Cold Lake. The win for the girls was the second victory for the young team in the last week of court action. They beat their JV rivals from Bonnyville Comp last Thursday, continuing their path to a spot in the playdowns for Districts. The girls face Cold Lake again in the coming week to determine that Districts title.
Johnson said the Saturday jamboree went well and was a good way to wrap up the season.
‘Overall, I think it went well. Nobody got hurt, which is a plus, and they all seemed to have fun,” he said.
For the JAWS junior boys team, it was also a way to draw some new talent to the team for the next season.
“It was definitely unusual that we had to call in some volunteers, but I think that some of them might want to tryout for the team next year. It gave them an up-close look at the game, and even though the scores were really against them, they were all smiling.”
The coming week will also feature some senior high school basketball action on the JAWS main courts as the boys and girls host their Bonnyville rivals on Tuesday afternoon.