Girls and boys teams from Bonnyville Centralized High School (BCHS) and Notre Dame High School (NDHS) faced each other in their season openers of the Lakeland Basketball Association Dec. 8 at BCHS.
The girls teams took to the court first and saw NDHS come out on top by a score of 41-20.
“We started out really strong,” said NDHS girls coach Henry Szydlik. His girls came out of the first quarter up 13-0.
Szydlik said he was pleased with his team's performance. He said his players executed the game plan, shutting down the opposing point guard Sarah Waiter, who he believes is one of the strongest players on the BCHS squad.
Szylik said he is counting on his team's experience to take it a long way this season. NDHS only has three new girls joining the team, with a “really strong core of veterans,” according to Szylik.
“We still forgot a few things out there, but we're going to get stronger as it goes along.”
BCHS girls coach Heather Bartling said she expects more from her team as the season progresses.
“We didn't sow up that well for this game today. They seemed flat, no energy.”
She said it is tough for any team to come back from such a large deficit early on.
“We have a small team…(but) once we get everybody on board we will have a fast team,” said Bartling. She added that her team has to focus on what its strengths are and try not to get down on the things it cannot control, like having a size disadvantage.
Bartling admits there is some work to do, but said, “Ultimately we're just trying to build to get to zones.”
Like the girls game, the boys game was out of reach early, but this time it was BCHS leading, going up 21-2 after the first quarter. BCHS maintained a big lead for the entire game, eventually winning by a final score of 72-30.
BCHS coach Erik Mawer said his team overwhelmed NDHS with a constant offensive attack. But he added that style of play could sometimes work against you.
“We weren't being very patient on offence. They wanted to do things out there that aren't very disciplined, and more individual.”
“I stress team ball,” he said. “I want us to work more as a team and be less selfish out there.”
By stressing fundamentals and team play, Mawer said he is trying to ensure that each player becomes the best basketball player he can be.
NDHS coach Megan Munro said she has a young team on the court this year, with only one Grade 12 player, which she said resulted in some nerves in the team's first game of the season.
“Once they settled down and got into it and calmed themselves down, they really improved a lot over the four quarters.”
Munro said she has a “great group of players” and she is confident they will improve throughout the year.
Before the team's weekend tournament, Munro said it would be good for her players, explaining how they would have three games to gradually improve.
“I think that's what they are going to do all season…They have a lot of skill, they just have to develop it. I have really high hopes for them.”
