INNISFAIL – The Innisfail Mustangs wrapped up successful seasons on the court.
Innisfail Middle School girls' and boys'. basketball teams competed in the Chinook’s Edge North Athletic Association’s (CENAA) semifinals in Innisfail on March 2 and March 4.
The girls defeated École Camilie J. Lerouge School from Red Deer 35-20 in the semifinals and moved on to the gold medal game.
They earned a silver medal after losing a 45-29 decision to Destiny Christian School from Red Deer County.
“You always want to win gold but they knew going into it that they had far exceeded expectations for the entire season,” said Tina Chadwick, head coach. “I said (to them) the worst that could happen is we end up walking away with a silver medal.
“I believe they were really well matched, as far as their play on the court,” she added. “The outside shots that were made by the other team….they were consistent in making those shots so that was kind of the game changer,” said Chadwick.
“We didn’t win the game but we did very well.”
Although they were few on numbers, Chadwick said she was impressed with the team’s progress this season.
“We had a very short bench all season. We had three Grade 9 girls, three Grade 8 girls and three Grade 7 girls,” said Chadwick. “There was a tremendous amount of growth in all of the players. What really stood out for me was how they really jelled and really understood by the end of the season, what their role was out on the court.
“They worked hard to become a team,” she added.
The Innisfail Middle School boys team finished in fourth place, after losing a well-fought battle to Spruce View in the semifinals and competed for the bronze medal on March 4.
“We lost the semifinal game to Spruce View in a very close, back and forth kind of game,” said Mike Walsh, head coach. “Then we just came up a little bit short again last night (Wednesday) for bronze, so we finished in fourth in the season.
“In the big picture it’s a good result,” he added.
There were 12 players on the team this year from grades 8 and 9, seven of which were rookies, noted Walsh.
“It sets it up really well for next year because we could return 10 players,” he said.
Walsh also noted much growth and development from his team his year.
“Just the young players getting on the court and getting used to playing basketball games,” said Walsh. “Most of them have never played basketball anywhere else before.
“That’s one of the things that our middle school has really focused on is, we have a very good coach to develop the younger kids now,” said Walsh, noting their role. “That person comes in once a week and it’s a lot of skill development for the younger grade 5 and 6 boys and some Grade 7s.
“We’re trying to build a program right from Grade 5 all the way up so that when they’re done in Grade 9 they can hopefully go play for the Innisfail Cyclones at Innisfail high,” Walsh concluded.
