WEYBURN — The Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) Elecs senior girls' basketball team came home from the Weyburn tournament as the champions.
ECS opened the tournament with a 73-22 drubbing of the Lumsden Angels. Elecs' coach Jessie Smoliak said ECS started the game strong with intense defence and led 21-4 at one point.
"On offence we planned on running the floor in transition, which is what we did well. Lots of good ball movement, which led to everyone scoring in this game – which resulted in a team win," said Smoliak.
Sadie Aspinall had 21 points and three assists, Megan Porter notched 13 points and four assists and Sarah Nykiforuk had six points to go with 16 rebounds.
ECS's closest game was a 58-57 win over Moose Jaw Central in the semifinal. ECS had a strong start offensively again, Smoliak said, but allowed too many plays from inside the key. ECS was ahead by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter, but ran into foul trouble and wasn’t playing aggressive defense like they were against Lumsden.
Smoliak said ECS needs to be more disciplined with the lead rather than turning the ball over.
Aspinall had 20 points, six rebounds and two assists; Porter added 13 points, four rebounds and five assists; and Jordyn Tarnes had eight points and six rebounds.
ECS then had a 77-59 win over Moose Jaw Vanier in the final. Smoliak said ECS had a great start and led 29-16 at one point. Porter had 26 points, five rebounds and two assists, while Tarnes had 16 points, 16 rebounds and three assists. Ellie Wiebe contributed 11 points and 13 rebounds.
"I was happy to play Moose Jaw teams this weekend as they are always competitive. I loved coaching against other female head coaches, former players and athletes that I have played against, so it made for a fun weekend catching up," she said.
Aspinall and Porter have friends on both Moose Jaw teams as well, as they play on the Golden Ticket club team in the fall and spring.
"It was great to see their sportsmanship on the court and support off the court during the weekend," Smoliak said.
The coaches were proud of how their post players performed during the weekend, as Smoliak said the coaches have been harder on them, asking them to step up rather than relying on guards.
"They sure showed how much they have been improving. We played as a team this weekend which showed with the tournament win. A lot more to work on before the end of the season, but they are showing a lot of positive changes," said Smoliak.
ECS had a tough start to the season with a couple of early losses, but Smoliak described them as learning opportunities.
The Elecs will close out the pre-Christmas portion of their season with their alumni game on Dec. 19 at 6:30 p.m. The boys will then play at 8 p.m.
