Talons, Colts win Super South openers

By Ryan McCracken on February 2, 2018.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com @MHNMcCracken

The Eagle Butte Talons shook off a slow start and rallied all the way to a convincing 90-61 victory over the co-host Crescent Heights Vikings to kick off the Super South Basketball Tournament on Thursday.

While the Vikings jumped to an 18-10 lead through the first quarter, the Talons brought a much better effort to the boards in the second and stole away a nine-point lead at the half before running away with the game in the third.

“We just refocused at halftime,” said Eagle Butte head coach Mathew Duncan, whose Talons put up 33 in the third quarter. “We struggled with our defence in the first half but picked it up in the second half, took them out of their game plan and took control of the game.”

Tristan Duscherer led Eagle Butte’s offence with 24 points in the victory and Ethan Lust added 23, but as Duncan points out, every player on the floor plays a pivotal role in his team’s success.

“We don’t have one guy who’s going to go out there and drop 30-a-game so we like to get everybody involved. It helps everybody’s confidence, helps move the defence,” he said. “It’s definitely big going forward. We also play these guys in league in about two weeks so it’s good to get this win, going forward we’ve got some confidence against them.”

Chris Gilham and Landon Lafond shared the Vikings’ team-high with 15 points apiece. While Gilham — a Grade 11 forward —left the game after going down hard in the fourth, Vikings head coach Sterling Hamilton says he should be fine to return to the floor for this afternoon’s game against Canmore Collegiate at 2:45 p.m. in the Crescent Heights East gym.

Hamilton added Gilham has shown plenty of potential in his role this season and expects the big forward to start turning heads in the near future.

“College coaches need to know who this kid is,” said Hamilton. “Being a multi-sport athlete — he also excels at volleyball — he has a beautiful ability to just jump straight up for those boards, which you need at the net in volleyball and it works so well for us in basketball … He’s averaging almost a dunk a game.”

While his Vikings had trouble rebounding from Eagle Butte’s pushback effort Thursday, Hamilton says they can learn a lot from the setback, and that’s ultimately what the Super South tournament is all about.

“Things that we struggle on are boxing out, sprinting back in defensive transition, executing simple offensive stuff and just taking pride in that,” he said. “At this tournament we can work on fixing the little things and then get ready for the rest of the regular season.”

Over at McCoy, the Colts opened their tournament with an 86-75 win over the Strathmore Spartans.

The Colts surged to a 25-17 lead in the first quarter. While Strathmore narrowed the gap to make it a one-point game at the half, McCoy rallied to outscore the Spartans 47-37 in the second half and secure the victory.

Greg Spencer posted a double-double for McCoy with 18 points and 18 rebounds, while Francis Villar led the offence with 22 points and Spencer Tudor added 20.

The Colts return to the hardwood for this afternoon’s 2:45 p.m. game against Moose Jaw at McCoy. The Talons continue their tournament tonight at Crescent Heights against Moose Jaw Central at 6:15 p.m.

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