They are having a banner year, but a few potholes have appeared in the road.
The Humboldt Collegiate Institute (HCI) senior girls' A basketball team won the Lake Lenore Invitational Tournament (LLIT) on the weekend, despite having both starting guards out of the lineup with injuries.
Teams from Middle Lake, Southey, HCI, Herbert, Foam Lake, Meath Park, Warman, and Lake Lenore competed in the tournament.
The tournament kicked off with the Middle Lake Avengers facing the Southey Screaming Eagles.
The Avengers jumped out to an early lead, but Southey battled back, closing to within three before the first quarter ended. Middle Lake held a 16-13 lead after nine minutes of play.
Despite the Avengers' best efforts, Southey took over the lead about halfway through the second quarter and never looked back. The Eagles tightened up their defence, forcing the Avengers to shoot from outside. Southey also dominated under the basket, snagging most of the rebounds.
At half, the Eagles were up 38-23.
Southey's control of the game continued in the third quarter, but the Avengers did have a few break-throughs where they racked up points.
Middle Lake kept trying different offences and defences in the fourth quarter, but couldn't shut out the Eagles. Southey won the game 74-48.
The next game saw the Foam Lake Panthers take on the Meath Park Mustangs.
Foam Lake came out and took control of the game right from the start and never looked back.
The Panthers led 34-12 at the half and finished with a 65-26 win.
The third game of the night was the HCI Mohawks facing the Herbert Laurels.
Herbert scored the first points in the game, thanks to HCI missing their first five shots, but the Mohawks didn't wait long to take over the lead. HCI was up 20-6 after nine minutes of action.
Herbert played a much more offensive game in the second quarter, capturing more rebounds and taking more chances, but HCI was up 32-11 at the half. The final score was 50-23 in favour of the Mohawks.
The last game on February 11 saw the home town Lake Lenore Lancers defeat the Warman Wolverines 34-28. According to Lancer coach Curtis Strueby, it was one of the team's best games all season.
On the B side, Middle Lake defeated Herbert 63-43 and Warman beat Meath Park 71-26.
Herbert beat Meath Park 56-35 in the seventh place game.
Warman defeated Middle Lake 47-33 in the Consolation final.
On the A side, HCI beat Southey 41-37, while Foam Lake beat Lake Lenore 65-43.
"We played good against Foam Lake," said Strueby. "We got off to a slow start, but we clawed our way back to make a game of it."
Southey defeated the Lancers 64-29 in the third place game.
"We played two really strong games, but we ran out of gas in the third game," Strueby said of the third place game. "It's a little disappointing to lose by that margin, especially when we just beat Southey a couple of weeks ago."
HCI defeated Foam Lake in the A final by a score of 51-36.
"Congratulations to Humboldt," Strueby said. "They played well without a couple of key players and dictated the game. A couple of their other players really stepped up and contributed."
Overall, Strueby was pleased with the level of play at the tournament.
