It wasn't exactly a successful trip to Gibsons for the Howe Sound Sounders senior boys basketball team.
The Sounders fell 82-50 to the Elphinstone Secondary School Cougars on Thursday (Jan. 16), but head coach Max Roy said he was happy with his team's efforts in the first half.
We competed well in the first half. It was the best we've played all year, he wrote in an email. We were playing like a team and going into the third quarter, we were down by 13.
Roy said the Cougars are a tough team and are a good test for the Sounders.
Elphinstone is the team to beat this year they have six Grade 12 players who are their core with two of their players being former Team B.C. players, he said.
Howe Sound trailed by 13 after the first half but the Cougars turned it on the second half, building a 35-point lead five minutes into the third quarter.
To Elphinstone's credit, they made the adjustments at half and made a huge run against us, he said.
Roy said the North Shore League is strong this year, with four out of the league's six teams having been ranked in the top 15 in B.C. at some point this season. He pointed out that rivals Elphinstone, Collingwood and Bodwell are all in the top 15 in the province.
The senior boys team returned to action against Seycove on Tuesday (Jan. 14). Details from that game will be available in next week's edition of The Chief.
It was also bad news for the Sounders senior girls team on Wednesday (Jan. 15) as they lost 51-15 to Pemberton.
Roy said Pemberton executed extremely well and played strong defence throughout the game. He added that Natasha Pettersen was the standout player for the Sounders, as she displayed hard work and hustle on both ends of the court.
For more details on Sounders athletics, visit www.sd48howesound.org/programs/athletics.
