RYAN WILLMAN
Arrow Lakes News
Mt. Sentinel found themselves in the depths of the Nakusp Secondary Cougars’ den during last week’s friendly high school basketball playday. The visiting Grade 8 girls, Jr. girls and Jr. boys teams each played one game against their Nakusp counterparts and made for some entertaining ball for local fans.
“Sure there is a bit of hack and slash out there,” one of the basketball officials responded to comments about the intensity of last Wednesday’s games. “But this is Kootenay mountain ball.”
Unfortunately, the local Cougars squads all found themselves on the wrong side of the score board as Mt. Sentinel’s uncanny ability to capitalize on opportunities managed to rack up the score in their favor while the Cougars struggled to shut down the efficient offensive drives to the net.
However, the Cougars were not without moments of glory as their development at the hands of Kim Reich, Stephanie Stenseth and Phil (The Legend) McMechan was apparent as the Cougars played smart, positional basketball, and never gave up in their fight. Brianna McKay, Tanaya Weimer, Everett Harrison and Tim Barrisoff were forces on the court with hard drives up the hardwood that netted their team’s precious points. On the backline, Heidi Kholer, Taylor Moody and Xander Leeson-Booth stood out as strong defenders against the onslaught and precision of the Mt. Sentinel forwards, but could not stem the tide of buckets.
On Jan. 27, the Cougar girls will be traveling to Castlegar for their final matches of the season, while the boys will host Castlegar in the den.
