The Nakusp Cougars Senior Girls Single A basketball team is on their way to provincials after winning all three of their games in a local tournament this past weekend.
They kicked off the tournament with a victory against the Grand Forks Wolves, where both teams played an extremely close match. The two teams were closely matched, but in the end it was the tenacity of the well-oiled machine of Nakusp that secured the victory.
The Cougars maintained a five-point lead on the Wolves for most of the game and came out with a 44-38 victory.
“The girls played their hearts out,” said Sylvia Klein, coach for the Cougars.
Though they won their first game, it was their second match against the Fernie Falcons that secured the team their spot in provincials.
The two teams duked out in an intense head-to-head game, where the Cougars maintained an impressive three-point minimum lead over the Falcons the entire game.
At the end of the first quarter and after several straight minutes of the teams exchanging possession of the ball, the Cougars leapt ahead with a staggering eight-point lead on the Falcons, landing the scoreboard at 14-6.
Within the first three minutes of the second quarter, the Falcons managed to score enough baskets to bring their score up five points to 14-11.
After starting the final quarter with a score of 43-26, the Falcons stepped up their game and pushed back, hard. After 10 minutes of a fierce display of exceptional basketball skills the Falcons managed to pull out just 7 points behind the Cougars, finishing the game at 49-42.
“They’ve got a pretty solid team,” said team captain Renee Goodman, just after the game, “They’re aggressive on their drives, so they’re a pretty good match.”
The Cougar’s final game of the tournament was against the Kimberly Storm. Cougars won the match with a score of 65-56.
The team is now at nine wins, and two losses throughout the basketball season.
The Cougars will head to the provincial finals held in Duncan on the weekend of March 8 to 11.