Howe Sound鈥檚 senior boys鈥� basketball team is the Sea to Sky champion, though the honour didn鈥檛 come without a fight.
In the season-ending tournament, which Howe Sound hosted on Friday, the Sounders fell behind early to visiting Whistler in the first quarter and were seemingly unable to hit shots from inside or out.
鈥淚t was the nerves that got us,鈥� coach Max Roy said.
In the second quarter the Sounders were able to get back in the game, using their speed to push the ball up on offence, though they ended the half still trailing by a bucket.
Several players stepped up, but guard Kaito Watanabe proved to be a spark plug on both ends of the floor, providing in-your-face defence and pushing the ball up court with dribble-drive penetration on offence.
The third quarter was the turning point for the Sounders, as several players started to hit their shots, most notably Alex Hauge from three-point range, which ran Howe Sound鈥檚 lead well into double digits.
Whistler did not go away through and cut the score to within 10, but Roy was able to get Sounders to slow down the offence to eat up the clock in the waning minutes, despite a late push from the visitors.
鈥淭hey did a good job, but we were able to stay calm,鈥� he said.
In the end, Howe Sound walked away with the 71-60 win.
鈥淚t was a team effort, and everyone did really well,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e a very dedicated group, and it was a great way to end the season.鈥�
The league championship offers some consolation for their loss in the North Shore League to Sutherland earlier last week. Roy though is happy with his team鈥檚 performance in their first year of competing in the North Vancouver AAA league.
鈥淚t was as successful as we could have hoped,鈥� he said.
On the senior girls鈥� side, the Sounders were in tough against a strong Pemberton squad.
At the start, Howe Sound was able to generate offence with quick passing around the perimeter and jumped out to an early lead and by the end of the first quarter was still tied 10-10 with its rival.
Things fell apart quickly though in the second quarter, as Pemberton started to score, which allowed it to apply full court presses as Howe Sound tried to inbound the ball.
Turnovers were the killer for the senior girls, as the visitors had their way and were able to put points up on the board in quick spurts.
While coach Paul Wick did not try to gloss over the lopsided 75-25 loss, he recognized going into this season he had a young team with many players having little court experience, but who kept working all year, regardless of whether a game was close or not.
鈥淚t didn鈥檛 matter what the score was,鈥� he said, 鈥渢he girls played hard. That was a big, big positive this year.鈥�
The season provided an opportunity for the players to learn, and the coach was happy with the leadership of Grade 12 players like Kaija Lewis-Belle and Maja Bergin.
鈥淚t was learning season on how to be a team,鈥� he said.
There were others who developed over the course of the year, Wick said, such as Kacie Reed, who had come in with plenty of soccer experience but little on the hardwood.
鈥淗er basketball skills improved throughout the year鈥�. Everyone improved.鈥�
