It was a great weekend for Lakers’ basketball this past weekend. All three teams that participated in tournaments won their respective championships. This is the first time this has happened in recent memory. Congratulations to all four teams on a great week of basketball winning 11 of 12 games, including league games. This is a great way to go into the exam break.
VARSITY GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
The Lady Lakers have been working hard to improve and that manifested itself with four consecutive wins last week. The girls earned their first league victory with a hard fought win over Bert Church, 64-53. Yasmene Sahgir led the way with 29 points followed by Richelle Rawlyk with 17 and Rachel Cooke with 11. On the weekend the team participated in the Bearspaw Christian Tournament. In the opening game all players made a valuable contribution earning a 79-22 victory. In the semi-final game, against the host Lions, the girls played some of their best basketball on the season earning an 87-72 victory. Scoring leaders were Yasmene and Rachel with 27 each and Richelle with 21. Yasmene added 16 rebounds followed by Jordan Brown with 8. In the final, the team was matched up with league rival, Cochrane, who had defeated the Lady Lakers twice this season. The score changed hands numerous times. The relentless fast break and press of the team was the difference in the game. The team had to scrap for a 53-46 victory and the tournament championship. Yasmene again led the way with 24 points followed by Richelle with 12 and Rachel with 11. Yas also led the way on the boards with 19 rebounds followed by Jordan with 10. Stats do not tell the whole tale as all girls contributed to the tournament championship. It was the defense and fast break that led to the girls’ success this past week. Our team is coming together after a tough start to the season. Congratulations on a great week of basketball.
JV GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
The Junior Varsity Girls continued their winning ways with another week of inspired basketball. On Wednesday, the Lady Lakers took on the Bert Church Chargers in a league battle for first place. The team started the game with a quick 18-2 run and never looked back. Makayla Boisjoli and Laura Costlello led their teammates to an impressive 73-37 victory. The girls hosted their annual invitational tournament on the weekend. In their first game on Friday, the squad came up with a tenacious defensive effort en route to a convincing 65-30 win. Kendall Armstrong led the team with 16 points. Drumheller Valley Dinos were their second opponent on Friday evening. Another strong team effort resulted in a 75-40 victory. It was an early morning matchup with a very strong Hanna Hawks team on Saturday. Once again the Chestermere girls came out ready to play. Maddi Stoye scored her team’s first 10 points and her teammates continued their strong play and walked off the court with a 75-35 decision, In the last game of the night, the Lady Lakers capped off a magical weekend with a fabulous team effort against the very scrappy FFCA Phoenix. The younger players had a chance to step up and all the girls played very well. Leena Saghir and Ashley Cavers had their best games of the season offensively in helping their team to a 72-25 triumph. The girls will continue to work over the exam break and look forward resuming play in two weeks.
VARSITY BOYS’ BASKETBALL
The Varsity Lakers had a quiet week as they did not play in a tournament on the weekend. The #1 ranked Lakers hosted the Bert Church Chargers last Thursday. In a high energy and physical game the Lakers prevailed 83-62. The Lakers’ fast break and pressure defense was too much for the Chargers to handle. Leading the way for the Lakers were Hunter Karl and Chris Hendry with 16 points each. Jherald Gonzales added 12 points while Keith Davis had 11. The only negative of the game was an injury to senior leader, Jasdeep Gill, who left the game in the second quarter.
JV BOYS’ BASKETBALL
The Chestermere JV Lakers played their fifth league game of the season against the Bert Church Chargers on January 11th. The Lakers started out sluggish, resulting in a 78 -58 loss. The Lakers led by Charnjot Gill with 22 points and 4 assists. Jag Gill added a double double in the effort as well racking up 12 points and 10 rebounds. Corey Hendry added 8 points and 7 rebounds. The Lakers also played in the Highwood Invitational on the weekend. This turned into a very successful weekend for the JV Lakers bringing home the championship with 3 big wins. In the first game against Acme the scoring came from all over the floor. It was a close 68-67 win for the Lakers. Scoring leaders were Charnjot Gill with 20, Jag Gill with 12, Bailey Grabmuller and Colby Georgsen with 8 each. The second game was against the host team, Highwood High. The Lakers led from start to finish winning the game 71-45. Scoring leaders were Charnjot Gill with 11 , Jag Gill with 10, Mantaj Malkana and Colby Georgsen with 9 a piece.
In the championship game the Lakers faced the Olds Spartans in the championship plaque. The game was never close from the start. The Lakers opened up the game with a 24-1 lead. The final score was 73-36 win. Scoring leaders were Charnjot Gill with 24, Jag Gill with 14, Colby Georgsen with 13 and Corey Hendry with 12. The Lakers also earned the Tournaments MVP. This award was shared between grade 11 Colby Georgsen and grade 10 Charnjot Gill. They led the offensive and defensive efforts in all three games. Congratulations to the coaches and players on an impressive weekend.
COWBOYS’ FOOTBALL AWARDS NIGHT
The Cowboys’ had their awards banquet on Monday. Full results will be posted in next week’s article.
This week we have two male Athletes of the Week, Colby Georgsen and Charnjot Gill. Both had excellent tournaments at Highwood High School In High River. Colby played tough defense all weekend and averaged 8 assists, 3.9 steals and 10 points per game. Charnjot averaged 18.4points and 6.5 assists. Their inspired play helped earn the Lakers the tournament championship and Colby and Charnjot were named tournament co-MVP’s. Congratulations.[/box] [box]GIRLS’ ATHLETE OF THE WEEK- RACHEL COOKE
This week’s Athlete of the Week is Lady Laker, Rachel Cooke. After breaking her ankle just prior to the season, Rachel has worked hard to regain her form. She had her best week, this past weekend, helping the girls earn 4 wins. She was a key contributor in the Lady Lakers’ tournament victory with 51 points, 18 assists and 14 steals. Her defense and fast break skills made a difference in the tournament championship.[/box]
