It was an unfriendly trip to Vancouver Island for the Quest Kermodes men's and women's basketball teams this past weekend.
It was the start of league play for both teams and they each dropped two games, with every game resulting in a double digit loss.
The Vancouver Island University (VIU) Mariners pounded the men's team 76-55 on Friday (Nov. 5) and 88-45 on Saturday (Nov. 6) while the women's team fared slightly better, losing 61-48 on Friday (Nov. 5) and 55-39 on Saturday (Nov. 6).
"There's a few things we need to work on," said women's team head coach Mike Woollard. "The end of the first half and the beginning of the second half on Friday we just weren't able to score and it built a pretty big hole we couldn't get out of. I thought the girls came out pretty hard but VIU is a strong team."
Quest's Brittany Harteveld was the team's leading scorer on Friday (Nov. 5), scoring 11 points. Allie Chalke and Cynthia Lau proved effective for the Kermodes on the boards, grabbing seven rebounds each.
On Saturday (Nov. 6), Courtney Harpur put together a strong game, pouring in 14 points but unfortunately the rest of the team only contributed 25 as they struggled against a tough Mariners defence. Allie Chalke again led the team in rebounds, picking up eight.
The lack of offence was concerning to Woollard, who said that the team is working on ways to produce more points.
"We need more offence and need to get the ball more into the paint," he said. "We need to get more of an inside presence and feed the ball into the post instead of settling for outside shots, which is what happened against VIU."
Woollard said that he was satisfied with his team's defensive performance, especially against a team with the physical tools that the Mariners possess.
He pointed to the defensive efforts of first year player Ruth Thanert and Harpur as positives from the weekend and noted that Brittany Harteveld was effective on the offensive side of the ball.
Next up for the women's team will be their home opener against the Columbia Bible College Bearcats.
The Bearcats had an even rougher start to the year than Quest, being outscored 184-54 in their first two games, and Woollard said the Kermodes have a great opportunity to pick up their first win on the year.
"They got a little beat up in the opening weekend and we need to take advantage of our favourable size difference and take the game from them," he said.
Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 12) at the Quest University gym.
The men's team will also hit the court for their home debut later that evening when they also host the Bearcats. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.
For more information on the teams, visit www.questkermodes.ca.
