INNISFAIL – The Innisfail High School senior boys' basketball team is golden.
They recently took the top spot and earned a gold medal in the Bentley Senior High School Boys Basketball Tournament on Jan. 11.
A total of eight teams from across Central Alberta competed in the one-day event, including those from Caroline, Bentley, Ponoka, Rocky Mountain House and Innisfail.
“It’s the first time we’ve won a tournament this year,” said Kaye Kronebusch, head coach. “We finished second in a Caroline tournament before Christmas.”
Each team played three games apiece in the tournament, he added, noting Innisfail took all three games after a slow start.
“It was a slow start to our first game against St. Dominic’s from Rocky Mountain House, but our consistency in working on the fundamentals in practice, week to week, really paid off in the second half of the game,” he said, noting they scored 20 unanswered points, mostly by Kyle Epp and Daniel Spiller, who stepped up in the team’s comeback in the second half, giving Innisfail a 66-51 victory.
The second game saw much of the same success.
“We played a very consistent game and made a good percentage of our shots and continued to develop our game play,” said Kronebusch, adding they won the semifinal 71-65 to advance to the gold medal game against tournament host Bentley.
The team’s continued hard work also paid off in the gold medal game, he noted, despite a close first half.
“The boys played well. We made sure that the boys came in and kept to the basics, as we’ve been practising,” he said. “They showed their endurance in the long run and they were able to take a big lead in the second half of the game.
“We ran all of our lines the whole game and everyone contributed from the team,” said Kronebusch. “We were able to outrun and outwork Bentley to pull ahead and win the gold medal 99-65.
“We are so proud of the boys' perseverance and great attitude,” he added.
The team currently sits in fourth place out of nine teams in the central-west zone league, said Kronebusch, adding the regular season will finish at the end of February with zone playoffs in March.
“As long as we continue to be consistent, we will be able to finish in the top three this year,” Kronebusch concluded.