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SHHS lacks defence but still pulls away with gold

Sacred Heart took part in the Estevan Elecs senior boys basketball tournament and won three straight games with a combined total of 241 points scored.
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The Saints winning team pictured above, from left, front row: Preston Liebrecht, Mark Kuemper, Dalen Brueckner, Dakota German, Logan Coutts; back row: Garrett Karcha, coach, Jonathan Lehky, Carter Mackay, Travis Inglis, Brock Liebrecht, Nathan Ruff, Brendon Walkington, Colin Shewchuk, Paul Hartman, teacher/coach (St. Mary's).

Sacred Heart took part in the Estevan Elecs senior boys basketball tournament and won three straight games with a combined total of 241 points scored.

Despite the onslaught of points scored, the team may have some issues on defence, which nobody on the team is taking lightly.

"We gave up 85 (points) against Weyburn," points out Garrett Karcha, head coach of the Sacred Heart Saints, several days after his team narrowly came out on top of a 93-75 win over Weyburn.

"But I knew that we were going to do well in this tournament."

With proof quite obviously there that even a team loaded with guys who could nail three-pointers all night long, won't be enough to win big if the defence isn't there.

Despite having no problems at all scoring, keeping the ball out of their own basket seems to be their achilles heel, notes Karcha.

"We dominated the time of possession, but they made a lot of their shots," he said.

"What bothers me is how much we allowed. I would have been incredibly disappointed had we lost this one."

Karcha said it was "neck and neck "pretty much all game long.

He added that as head coach he took it upon himself to try and arrange some sort of defensive strategy which he said he made up as the game went along.

"Obviously, it wasn't that successful," he acknowledged.

"It was just one of those frustrating games, but we are talented enough and skilled enough to win," he mentioned.

SHHS's next game was later that day against the Regina Christian School, whom Karcha said, was made up of mostly junior players.

Sacred Heart won that one too, 72-30.

Mark Kuemper was high scorer with 14 points. Nathan Ruff had four assists and Travis Inglis helped out with eight rebounds.

In the win over Weyburn, Preston Liebrecht had 24 points, Kuemper had 10 assists as well as 12 rebounds.

In SHHS's last game, the finals, they played Balgonie, and won by 20.

Liebrecht again led the way with 28 points, Dakota German had 10 assists while Kuemper had 10 rebounds in a 76-56 win.

YORK CITY TOURNEYKarcha's Saints and the Yorkton Regional High School teams will co-host the first annual York City senior tournament at the end of the month, says Karcha.

The games could turn out a rematch of last month's YRHS/SHHS overtime spectacle which the Saints lost by two points on their home floor.