The Swift Current Comp. Senior Ardens basketball team won two of three games during their home debut to place third at the eight-team Ardens Invitational.
The Ardens opened their tournament on Friday against the Shaunavon Silhouettes in front of the Comp. student body with a 56-28 win. Grade 11 guard Kennedy Choo-Foo and grade 10 guard Danika Messer led the Ardens with 12 points apiece. Ali Vance added
10 points as well.
“ This was a great team game allowing our players to get comfortable and grow as a team,” noted coach Duane Regier. They faced the North Battleford Comp. Vikings in the semi- final on Saturday morning and lost 60-51. ChooFoo paced the offense with 16 points, while Messer added 15 points.
“Although the result isn’t what we wanted, I think the team was put in a good learning experience against a better conditioned team. We had lapses every time we got within striking distance of taking the lead making a few mental mistakes and turned the ball over and all of a sudden we were down 10 again. It was a great learning
experience and will help make us a stronger team,” noted Regier.
The Ardens got off to slow start in the bronze medal game but rebounded to defeat the Weyburn Eagles 50-35. Grade 12 guard Katie Braun led the team with 16 points, while Choo-Foo followed with nine.
“It wasn’t a pretty game, but it really showed that even when things aren’t going well if we continue to play with high compete and e ffort levels we will give ourselves opportunities to win games without our best stu ff,” said Regier.
The Ardens are now 4-3 on the season and Regier felt that the weekend gave the team a great baseline in starting their process of
earning a trip to 5A SHSAA Hoopla in March.
“It was a really good weekend with Danika Messer and Kennedy Choo-Foo playing very solid for us all weekend and nice to see an up and coming star Tiana Knight on the court making some great moves to the hoop,” he added.
The next action for the Ardens will be January 5-7 in Prince Albert.
