The Oxbow Prairie Horizons School Black Knights boys basketball team trounced the Swift Current Comprehensive School Colts 80-58 in the consolation final at the Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) Elecs junior boys basketball tournament last Saturday.
The B-side win is a departure from the A-side success that the team has enjoyed so far this season. The Black Knights captured tournament championships in their first two competitions of the season in Weyburn and Stoughton last month.
Ian Cushon, head coach of the Black Knights, said the combined junior and senior team, which includes three Grade 12, one Grade 11, three Grade 10 and three Grade 9 players, only had seven athletes dressed for the Elecs tournament due to injury and other engagements. He said the kids who were here played hard and should be proud of the accomplishment.
“We played a good tournament,” said Cushon. “We lost our first game to Weyburn (95-66), which is a very strong junior varsity team. We played them before in Weyburn and actually won the junior varsity tournament there just by a few points.”
The Black Knights rebounded from the Friday night loss to beat the Caronport High School Cougars 84-34 early Saturday morning securing the team a berth in the consolation final that afternoon. It took a few minutes for Oxbow to find their stride against Swift Current falling behind 8-7 early in the first quarter, but a late push led by the strong inside play and accuracy beyond the arc from forward Austin Muir helped the team to a crushing 28-13 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
Forwards Yeoj Rejano and Liam Cushon along with guard Brandon Muir stepped up offensively in the second and third quarters propelling the Black Knights to a 40-33 advantage at halftime and 56-44 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Grade 9 guard Nathan Muir took control of the play in the fourth quarter draining eight of his 12 total points.
“It's a good feeling,” said Nathan about the consolation victory, noting they can play with anyone when sporting a full bench. “We're a strong team. We have potential.”
Cushion said they're a smaller team with some good outside shooters, but they do have a few players like Austin who can get inside and rebound. He said they compete in both junior and senior tournaments in the lead-up to regionals and a hopeful appearance at Hoopla in March, with their own tournament coming up next for the team on Jan. 27 and 28 before they head back to Estevan for the ECS Elecs senior boys tournament on Feb. 10 and 11.
“They're both full on senior boys tournaments, so they're very competitive,” said Cushon. “We'll be facing some of our toughest competition of the year. Those are good tournaments to go to, but they're going to be hard work.”
