The Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) Elecs senior boys and girls basketball teams came up just short in their effort to regain the McLeod Series trophy from the Weyburn Comprehensive School Eagles.
Estevan’s senior girls and boys basketball teams dropped both games played in Estevan on Feb. 13, with the girls losing 67-59 and the boys 87-85. Weyburn won the annual best-of-four series 3-1.
But Weyburn only had a seven-point cumulative edge, 289-282, in those four games.
ECS carried a three-point edge entering the games on Feb. 13.
In the senior girls game, Estevan had a 26-22 advantage late in the second quarter, but Weyburn took a 29-28 lead into half-time. Weyburn scored the first 10 points of the third quarter, but Estevan responded with a 13-2 run to lead 41-40.
The Eagles retook the lead before the end of the third, and led 44-43 through three quarters, and then outscored Estevan 23-16 in the fourth, punctuated by a buzzer-beater from beyond the three-point line.
Elecs coach Jessie Smoliak said the team played better than in the game in Weyburn the week before, which the Elecs lost by 12.
“I was happy with their execution, but unfortunately we didn’t finish the layups and the shots that we needed,” said Smoliak. “Weyburn still outrebounded us, but I thought we did a better job of blocking out this game.”
In the first game, Weyburn’s Arliss Sidloski scored 48 points, but the Elecs limited her to 12 in the second. The Elecs did a better job of finding her on the court, with Danica Memory and Haylee Jones shadowing her for most of the game.
Grade 10 guard Bethany Montebon did an excellent job of taking care of the ball as well, especially in the face of a strong press by Weyburn.
While the score sheet for the game was not available, Smoliak said everyone on her team scored in the second McLeod Series game.
Smoliak pointed out the Eagles have a veteran team, and they played their Grade 12s a lot, while Estevan doesn’t have any senior players.
“A lot of them are still learning to be mature athletes on the court, and make the right decisions. A lot of times they hesitate a lot,” said Smoliak.
She expects the experience this year will be beneficial, because they will be back together next year. The players have been through the experience of McLeod, and Smoliak hopes they will be more comfortable playing in front of the huge crowd associated with the series next year.
“It’s one of the most exciting high school athletic games that I think we put on at ECS,” said Smoliak.
As for the senior boys, Estevan led 23-21 after the first quarter and dominated early in the second to lead 41-29 at one point. But Weyburn fought back, and Estevan’s lead was down to 47-42 at half-time.
The Elecs dominated early in the third, leading by double digits midway through the frame, but then Weyburn’s three-point shooters took over. The Eagles pulled to within three, 67-64, by the end of the third quarter.
The two teams exchanged the lead several times in the fourth, and Estevan led the game with less than two minutes to play, but Weyburn would hit a couple more three-pointers to clinch the victory.
Weyburn had 18 three-pointers on the night.
Elecs coach Carmon Lindquist was pleased with his team’s offensive production, but he also said Weyburn played extremely well – the best they have played this season.
“It was a great game, an exciting game, right down to the wire,” said Lindquist. “It was a lot of pressure on the boys, and we didn’t quite come up with what we needed.”
It was the first time in five meetings this year that Weyburn has defeated Estevan. Lindquist noted the Eagles have never shot like that in any of the previous games. And no matter what the Elecs did, they couldn’t stop Weyburn’s long-distance shooting in the second half.
“Usually in a match like that, you go in scoring streaks,” said Lindquist. “You’ll have a stretch where you may be hot for a while, but that just doesn’t last the whole game. But they did. We weren’t working like we typically do on our defence, working as hard as we could have been, and had been in the past.”
John Andres led the Elecs with 32 points, while Jack McGeough and Clark Cabiluna each added 17.
Both Smoliak and Lindquist praised the crowd for the McLeod Series. The ECS gymnasium was packed, with hundreds of Estevan spectators and some fans from Weyburn filling the stands.
The ECS cheerleaders and pep band were also there for the games, and half-time entertainment came from school band North of Nowhere.
“Even our refs that we bring in from Regina, they compliment us and say it’s just like a mini-Hoopla,” said Smoliak, alluding to the provincial high school basketball tournament. “They can’t get over how much support we get, and I believe in Estevan, we do a really good job of hosting.”
Weyburn now has a 44-40 lead all-time in the McLeod Series.
