Howe Sound Secondary鈥檚 senior boys basketball team had a bit of a slow start to its year on the weekend, dropping three games at a tournament at Sutherland Secondary in North Vancouver.
Toran Savjord is co-coaching the team this year with Jens Ourum, who was assistant to head coach Max Roy last year.
Savjord has been coaching many of this year鈥檚 senior squad, which is made up of Grade 11s with the exception of two players who were in Grade 7.
鈥淚 know these guys really well and how they play,鈥� Savjord said.
The team also has a couple of international students from Chile and Argentina who are making contributions, one as a starter and one coming off the bench early.
As far as the weekend tournament went, Savjord said the team could have won any and all of the games, but they ended up running out of steam, losing to Fleetwood from Surrey, Tupper from Vancouver and Palmer from Richmond.
鈥淭hey were all close games,鈥� the coach said. 鈥淚 think we should鈥檝e won all of them.鈥�
The team needs to work on getting a little more from the bench, Savjord says, to supplement the starting five, but he is confident the team will gel when it comes to play in the North Shore league when it ramps up in the new year.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be competitive,鈥� Savjord said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got good starters. I鈥檓 confident they鈥檒l come around to find their rhythm.鈥�
For the weekend tourney, most of the teams had already played a game or two, whereas the Sounders were making their debut, so a little rust could be expected.
The Sounders will rely on outside shooting from players like Marco Pascuzzi this year to generate offence, as the team is light on tall players inside. Savjord, however, is pleased with the presence his forwards bring, though the team will need to make sure they stay out of foul trouble.
In late November, teammates got the chance to play each other in an intrasquad matchup in anticipation of meaningful games.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e getting tired of playing each other,鈥� Ourum said.
The players were split into the blue and red teams, with the reds up 34-25 at the half. In the second half, the two coaches switched sides and the blues started a comeback to tie things up in the third quarter. As the scrimmage continued, the blues team even took the lead and, with just under two minutes, the game was tied 70-70.聽
The reds regained the lead and the blues tried to tie it up with a shot that seemed to go in but bounced out of the basket. With some late free throws, the reds held on to win 75-70.
As far as what is coming up for the senior boys team, they had an away game in West Vancouver Wednesday after the story went to press.聽
They will also be taking part in a tournament at Capilano University in North Vancouver from Dec. 16 to 18, as well as a game at Windsor on Dec. 12.聽
