With the home fans behind them the Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs senior girls basketball team defeated the Melville Cobras in the 4A regional final, ensuring that for the second year in a row, they would go to Hoopla.
The provincial championship is always a goal for all high school teams and the Elecs are no exception, but with four seniors on the team who all played on last year’s 5A Hoolpa-making team, it was even more so with the Elecs.
“It was super exciting knowing we get to experience it again,” said Tatiana Dutka, a senior guard for the team. “It’s exciting to go watch all the other teams and the other games have so much hype and the excitement of the fans cheering.”
The Elecs beat the Cobras 88-42 Saturday at the Elecs’ gym.
“Tatiana having 19 points in the first quarter (was big),” said Elecs head coach Jessie Smoliak. “We’ve been waiting for that all season. Having kids like Morgan Fichter hgetting 16 points in the first quarter, too, those are big numbers for the first quarter. We’re really relying on our Grade 12s this weekend. Not to say our Grade 9s and 10s and 11s can’t also (play well). It’s not going to all be about the Grade 12s.”
This week, the Elecs will focus on the defence and maintaining the focus as they head into their first game, Friday against Moose Jaw Peacock.
“We’ve seen them already this year and we’re going to watch some game tape as well, to see what we can improve on,” Dutka said.
“Rebounding and boxing out is what we have to do in order to win,” said Smoliak. “All three teams are very similar.”
Going to Hoopla will be a new experience for several of the younger Elecs but the veteran presence of seniors like Dutka, Fichter, Sammy Wade and Khrystal Montebon will be helpful. And keeping a mental focus while all around you is noisy will be important.
“You can’t let fans get in your head or referees at all,” Dutka said. “It’s super loud all the time cheering for both sides. You have to stay focused and in on the game, and only the game at the time.”
The hype around the games will be similar to that of the McLeod Series, which has loud gyms and the potential for huge momentum swings.
“What it comes down to is the girls coming in and wanting it more,” said Smoliak. “Because we believe the first, second and third ranked teams are very close with one another. The last time we played Melfort we lost by two points and the last time we played Peacock, we lost by seven. The games have been close and I feel we haven’t played our best basketball yet. I’m hoping that we’ll do that this weekend, which is where we want to be.“
The senior boys team wasn’t able to make it past their 5A regionals last weekend in Warman. They defeated Prince Albert Carlton 76-67 in their first game, but lost 93-71 to North Battleford Comprehensive in their semifinal game.
The team will travel up on Thursday to watch some games and get acclimatized to the gym before playing their first game Friday.
