The Estevan Elecs junior girls were looking to peak at the final tournament of the year and darned if they didn’t just do that.
Their season culminated in a 42-39 victory at Weyburn over the Eagles to claim the district crown. As juniors, it’s the furthest they’ll get a chance to go.
“Right from the beginning of day one, the first practice, I tell my team the whole goal is to win districts at the end of the season,” said Elcs coach Kevin Kobitz. “Proceeding along every practice, every tournament, I reengage that and enforce that on the team, especially the last month.”
Through the last couple of tournaments in Yorkton and Moose Jaw, Kobitz turned the focus to what the team would need to do to beat Weyburn. Lo and behold, that’s what they did.
“I adjust my team, adjust the players and work on different types of drills,” he said. “What I’ll also do is change my offence around a little bit and a few new plays to execute… they’ve come along really well this season.”
The focus was directly on beating Weyburn, from the press they’ll sometimes use to the kind of offense they run.
“I work with freshman boys to set up a press on the girls just so they can get used to the press,” Kobitz said. “Although in the districts they barely pressed. We broke it so easily they just took it off.”
Kobitz also tried a different offence than Weyburn has seen from him, which he believes also helped.
“On top of that, my team gave all their heart,” Kobitz said. “They were down 11-12 points midway through the third quarter. I called a crucial timeout and brought them all together and said, ‘This is the turning point in the game. We either let them take the lead and be totally in control or we turn it on them.”
The Elecs had good looks in their shooting early but they weren’t falling in. Patience helped them and the shots poured in after that.
“When Weyburn had a big lead in the third, my team needed a break and a little bit of a rest. They got themselves back in the game with lots of heart and they never gave up.”
