Magrath Zeniths win Livingstone Junior A Boys Basketball Tournament

Gold: Magrath Zeniths

Silver: Livingstone Sabres

Bronze: St. Michael's Dragons

Consolation: Hill Spring's Panthers

Toni Lucas

Livingstone School's Sabres hosted a Junior A Boys Basketball Tournament on February 14 and 15. Eight teams competed in a total of twelve games, with Magrath's Zeniths defeating the Sabres for gold in the last game. The Sabres were rewarded with a hard-earned silver.  St. Michael's Dragons defeated Claresholm's WCCHS Cobras for third place.

To get in you had to get past these guys:
Joseph Lowry, Gareth Kaack, Logan Sekella at the entrance table

Hill Spring's Panthers were an interesting team to discover, there's a great deal of talent coming from that small school.  Real contenders.

Most Valuable Player of the Tournament was Sam Payne, #23 of Magrath's Zeniths.

Top three teams:

1. Magrath's Zeniths
2. Livingstone's Sabres
3. St. Michael's Dragons

Sabres fans had a theme...

"We started getting the idea of hosting the tournament in the fall," explained Livingstone Sabres Coach Paul Erickson, who also said that this was the first time that Livingstone's Junior Boys have hosted an invitational tournament in a number of years. "We are very pleased, we got eight teams, and it's sometimes hard to get eight teams. I think we'll try to do it again next year."

Zeniths vs Dragons

Erickson was enthusiastic about the help that he had from students and parents organizing, score keeping, running raffles, concession and keeping everything really running smoothly. "You couldn't do it with out that." Fair weather made the travel easy for the teams and for the crowds that came to watch. "We were full of people in here, and that's the best we've seen, the teams brought a lot of good fans." Erickson said that every team played three times throughout the tournament.

"We had a few big spreads in the games in the first round, but that's the time to have them, but since them it's been good games, good battles and the players have been playing hard. There's good players on every team."

Fans watching final game

Participating teams were Livingstone's Sabres, the Crowsnest Pass (CNP) Panthers, St. Michael's Dragons, Nobleford's Blades, Matthew Halton's Hawks, Magrath's Zeniths, Hill Spring's Panthers, and the Claresholm's WCCHS Cobras.

Game 1:  Sabres 59, Hawks 20

Players of the game

Sabres - Logan Kaack

Hawks - Tyson Mahli

Game 2:  Cobras 58, Hill Spring Panthers 54

Players of the game

Panthers - Taylor Barfuss

Cobras - Preston Toth

Game 3:  Zeniths 64, CNP Panthers 22

Players of the game

Zeniths - Jack Bennett

Panthers - Bobby Bedward

Game 4:  Dragons 70, Blades 34

Dragons 70 - Blades 34

Players of the game

Dragons - Andrew Strong

Blades - Reuben Goudzwaard

Game 5:  Hill Spring Panthers 58, Hawks 39

Players of the game

Panthers - Chayse Scout

Hawks - Matthew Duncan

Game 6: CNP Panthers 47, Blades 35

Players of the game

Blades - Tynan Potterton

Panthers - Keegan Ryden

Game 7:  Sabres 58, Cobras 41

Players of the game:

Sabres - Johnathan Erickson

Cobras - Ross Van Rootselaar

This was a very tight game until halfway through the second quarter.  Brady Douglas of the Sabres took a beautiful shot from halfway down the court in the first quarter, and Cobra Adam Steel proved that he was good at sharing the ball and making his way across the court to  the benefit of his team.

Sabres vs Cobras

Game 8:  Zeniths 64, Dragons 60

Players of the game

Zeniths - Paycen Blackmore

Dragons - Tyler Gerber

This was a tight game throughout with tied scores ranging back and forth, from early on into the 4th quarter.  keeping the many fans on the edge of their seats.  Both teams were on the court to win.  The Zeniths attacked the Dragon defensive zone with more determination for the win.

Game 9:  Hawks 49, Blades 45

Players of the game

Hawks - Jack Mitchell

Blades - Franz Fehr

Tight scores throughout, this was a good game for both teams.  They challenged each other, and I think learned from each other on the court.  #2 on the Blades is one of the smaller players on the team, but showed great dexterity and heart whenever he was on the boards.  Hawk Ryan Plante had some good breakaways in this game.  With five minutes left in the game the Hawks inched forward enough to win it.

Consolation Game

Game 10:  Hill Spring Panthers 51, CNP Panthers 47

Players of the game

Hill Spring Panthers - Pancho Thiessen

CNP Panthers - Matt Kenney

The Panthers played the Panthers and the Panthers won by a narrow margin.  Hill Spring had a wide lead at the half, and CNP narrowed it to a 3 point difference halfway through the 4th quarter.  Hill Spring saw their lead dwindling and put on extra pressure to remain the high scorer at the end of the game.

Panther vs Panther

 For Third

Game 11:  Dragons 59, Cobras 46

Players of the game

Dragons - Mitchell Zoratti

Cobras - Tyler Rowland

Playing to a packed house, the Dragons played hard, taking an early lead and running with it.  Cobra Caden Baptie was fast and skilled on the court, and Dragon Dexter Obrique had a great game. 

Dragons vs Cobras

Championship Game

Game 12: Sabres vs Zeniths 60, Sabres 45

Players of the game

Zeniths - Levi Steed

Sabres - Brady Douglas

Before the final game Livingstone Coach Paul Erickson was already proud of his Sabres.  "They've worked hard, and they will be tired at the end of it. Even some of the younger kids have stepped up and scored baskets, and that was good to see."  Erickson mentioned that the ratio on his team is about half grade 8 and half grade 9 students.

The Zeniths put the  pressure on right from the tip off in this game.  They scored 6 points before the Sabres responded.  Impressively, the Sabres tied it up 16-16 at the end of the first quarter.  The Zeniths had a slim 3 point lead at the end of the half.  In the third quarter the Zeniths pulled ahead to a seven point lead, and kept up the pressure until the end of the game, to win first place.

"They played really well," said Zeniths Coach Ryan Blackmore, who was happy for his team of boys who worked hard to win the tournament. He said that Livingstone was a good team to face in the final game and expressed his appreciation of the tournament organizers.

Just one more!

2013/14 Livingstone Sabres Jr A Boys

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