The Charles Hays senior boys basketball team cruised through the first three games of the No Regrets Tournament over the weekend before being bested in the final, losing to Handsworth 69-50, finishing second overall.
The Rainmakers kicked off the No Regrets Tournament in grand fashion, topping the number one ranked double-A team in the province, Seycove, by a final score of 91-57,
The game was huge for the Rainmakers in the tournament, but it also impacted the team outside of the tournament.
“I think it was a big game for us, just for our ranking, we should go up in our division after beating them.” Mel Bishop, head coach of the Rainmaker said, “It’s important to be a high rank for provincials to get a better first round draw.”
The team’s success continued in its next two games, beating Quad-A schools West Van and Kitsilano by scores of 72-65 and 66-55 respectively.
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Defence played a huge role in the teams first three wins, and Mel Bishop said that the team really clamped teams on the perimeter, but outside of the first game the team’s offence didn’t seem to find its stride.
“We’re buying into the defensive part of the game, Eric lees did a great job in particular on the perimeter.” Mel said, “I was happy with our showing, we beat some good teams, but offensively we have a lot of stuff to work on.”
The final game is where things collapsed for the Rainmakers, the tank was empty after a long and trying tournament.
“We didn’t have as much energy, in the final game, we just did not have that energy we needed,” Mel said.
The team played one more game than others in the tournament, they elected to play an exhibition game prior to the tournament in order to get their money’s worth on the long trip.
This lack of gas in the tank was evident early, as the team came out sluggish and couldn’t find their groove until it was much too late.
“We started very poorly, got down 12-2 early, and we couldn’t dig out,” Mel said, “I think we are gonna have to improve our conditioning and the execution on the offensive end.”
The team had a great showing, regardless of the final result, and were led by Kai Leighton and Liam Mcchesney, both of whom made the first all-star team for the tournament.
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nick.laws@thenorthernview.com
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