Stettler hits the win column in senior boys’ basketball

The Stettler Wildcats senior boys’ basketball team made the long trip to Bonnyville for tournament action on the weekend and came home with their first two wins of the season and a seventh-place finish.

In our first game Friday against Fort Saskatchewan High, the boys came out slow and had a difficult time making shots.

Fort Saskatchewan had a tall team, so the combination of missing shots and being unable to rebound really hurt us for the first half.

The boys eventually got into the game, but Fort Saskatchewan had a big enough cushion to prevent us from making it a game, and we lost 87-44.

Our second game was against Cold Lake that same night.

The football boys from Stettler were excited to play the school they beat to go to the provincials in November, and it turned out to be a close one.

The game was back and forth and we were able to squeak out a 69-61 victory. The boys were thrilled and it felt good to get our first win.

Our first game Saturday morning seemed to start out much like our game against Fort Saskatchewan.

The boys were a little sluggish and had difficulty making their shots. Kitscoty was a very similar team to us and it should have been more of a game then it was, as they beat us 79-56.

In our final game, we were playing Lac La Biche for seventh place in the 10-team tournament. We had our best start and shots were falling throughout the game. We had a strong press, led by Mark Meyer and Ricky Armstrong, that was able to force some turnovers and create easy buckets.

In the fourth quarter, up by 25 points, both Anton Stewart and Ty Page were injured.

Page came off with a hyper-extended knee and Anton had a serious ankle sprain.

With us losing two key players, Lac La Biche pushed back and came to within eight points.

The Stettler boys kept up, Page went back in and we won by 13. The score was 99-86.

Gerry McKay scored 27 points and Page had 23. Meyer was game MVP for his work on defence.