The Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs will have some work to do if they hope to win the 85th edition of the McLeod Series basketball showdown with the Weyburn Comprehensive School Eagles.
The two schools split the Feb. 7 games at the Estevan Comprehensive School, with the Eagles senior boys defeating their ECS counterparts 96-78 to open the series, and the ECS senior girls rallying to edge their rivals from Weyburn 80-78.
The McLeod Series is a best-of-four series between Estevan and Weyburn, with two games in Estevan and two in Weyburn. Point differential is used as the tie-breaker if each team wins twice.
The final two games will be played Feb. 12 in Weyburn, with the senior girls up first and the senior boys playing second.
In the senior boys game in Estevan, it was a close game for much of the first half, as the two teams were tied at 33-33 with less than five minutes to play.
“Our shooting was on and we were definitely rebounding well,” said senior boys head coach Trevor Dutka.
But Weyburn took over with a 17-4 run to lead 50-37 at half-time. After Weyburn hit a couple of three-point shots and Estevan missed their long-range attempts, Dutka said the Elecs went away from their game plan.
“When we decided not to run our game plan, I think Weyburn scored a few more baskets, and we just couldn’t get back,” said Dutka.
The Eagles continued to dominate into the third quarter to lead by 23 at one point. Estevan cut the deficit to a dozen points late in the third, but never drew closer, thanks in part to a buzzer-beating three-point shot for the Eagles at the end of the third quarter.
“We came out well … but I think the crowd got to us, I think our nerves got to us a little bit. We fell behind a little bit, and that’s when we started to make some bad decisions,” said Dutka.
Estevan did outscore Weyburn in the final 15 minutes of the game, but Dutka said they don’t want to find themselves in a predicament again in which they have to rally from a big deficit.
It was the second time the Elecs had faced Weyburn in a week. They lost 80-59 in a tournament, but the Elecs were only down three in that contest.
The senior girls game, meanwhile, had the excitement, lead changes, intensity and crowd energy one would expect from the McLeod Series. The Eagles opened with an 11-4 run, but Estevan fought back and led 22-21 after the first quarter.
The Elecs extended the advantage to 27-21 in the second quarter, but Weyburn responded, and the game was tied 42-42 at half-time.
The wild momentum changes continued into the third. Estevan built a 59-55 lead late in the stanza, but Weyburn knocked down back to back three-point shots to take the lead.
The Eagles led 76-68 late in the fourth, but Estevan went on a 13-2 run to finish the game and earn the split.
“We never gave up,” said head coach Jessie Smoliak. “Even when we were down by eight points in the last four minutes of the game, they fought back for the win. Composure from the girls on the court at the end to run down the clock is very important when we were up.”
Smoliak said they will be working to improve their defensive play and committing fewer turnovers. Most games this season they have tried to limit teams to 40-50 points.
“Letting Weyburn score 78 points lets us know we did not play very good defence, so we need to work on getting out on the shooters quicker,” said Smoliak.
It was the second time the Elecs defeated Weyburn in a close game this week, and she hopes they will be healthy and playing to their full potential for the second half of the McLeod Series.
“Hopefully they are feeling better by Wednesday because I feel that we will execute our game plan better. When I have my whole team healthy and focused, we play better,” Smoliak said.
She loved seeing the large crowd that filled the ECS gymnasium for both games, and she was excited to hear the cheering and the band, but she also reminded fans that these are high school students.
“All of the teams and coaches involved would agree that it is like playing at provincials,” said Smoliak.
