The Notre Dame High School (NDHS) girls basketball team wanted to follow up a tough stretch of games with a strong showing at the annual Roadrunner Classic, and they did just that, winning three straight games to take the tournament championship.
The tournament, hosted by Bonnyville Centralized High School (BCHS), saw 22 teams play in four different Bonnyville schools Friday and Saturday.
“I'm really happy,” said NDHS co-captain Erika Szydlik, following the championship game Saturday evening. “We've had a little bit of a rough patch here, losing four out of five games. To come here and win it feels really good.”
The girls beat Beaverlodge by a score of 57-53 to open the tournament Friday.
In their second game, the girls could not hit shots and found themselves in foul trouble in the first half, according to their coach Henry Szydlik.
But NDHS pulled it together in the second half, getting the 50-40 win over William E. Hay School to move on to the championship game.
With an injury from last Wednesday's league game, NDHS came into the tournament with a short bench, and facing a strong Ardrossan team in finals, the girls knew it would be a challenge.
NDHS toughed it out and gave it all they had to beat Ardrossan 54-41.
Szydlik said the keys to his team's success last weekend were learning to break the press and just play really solid defensively.
“It's nice to start playing really good basketball again,” he said, regarding a strong month of December, a tough January and now a good start to February.
“We have a huge tournament next weekend, so this really gets us going.”
It has been a tough season for the NDHS boys team. They have faced adversity almost every game, but have continued to improve and have not given up, according to their coach Megan Munro.
The boys came into the Roadrunner Classic without a win on the season and the streak continued in the first game of the tournament with a loss to William E. Hay.
The loss set up a Friday night game versus Central High.
Neither team would give in to the other. The game was close the entire way, with Central High controlling the first half and NDHS putting on the pressure in the second.
With Central High up by two with only moments to go, NDHS hit a clutch lay-up to send the game to overtime tied at 86.
NDHS did not relent, scoring seven points and holding Central High to only four, giving NDHS its first win of the season.
NDHS team captain Jonathan Cardinal said it felt good to get the first win of the season, commending his team and its resilient play.
“Morale has really risen a lot,” said Munro. “They played well all three games and keep showing improvement.”
