Basketball may not be the most prominent sport in Estevan, but anyone walking into the Estevan Comprehensive School’s gym on Wednesday evening would have assumed basketball meant more than anything to the Energy City.
Two emotional victories came just one week after a pair of tough losses on the road in Weyburn.
Hundreds packed the gymnasium on Feb. 11 to witness a long-lasting losing streak come to an end, as the senior girls and boys basketball teams claimed victory against the Weyburn Eagles in the 80th McLeod basketball series, a series many have described as the most intense pair of basketball games they had ever witnessed.
“That was the largest crowd I’ve ever seen in our gym,” said the Elecs head coach for the girls’ team, Jessie Smoliak. “The school spirit we had there that night was unreal, and even staff members who have been teaching here for 32 years, said they haven’t seen a basketball game like that.”
Alongside the parents, teachers and friends who consumed the bleachers, the school band was also on hand, playing recognizable tunes and jingles during breaks in the action. The cheer squad performed throughout the night, while mascots dotted the sidelines and got involved with the crowd.
The majority of the bustling activity was organized by the school’s Student Representative Council.
“We packed the gym the way schools in Alberta pack their gyms for provincials,” said the boys’ head coach, Shane Ross. “The game isn’t even 18 hours over, and I’m still getting calls from people, who I didn’t think knew what a basketball was, telling me how proud they are and congratulating the team.”
The support each basketball team received from the crowd was a focal point of the pre-game pep talk for the boys, who focused little on strategy and stressed the importance of playing with purpose.
“We wanted each player to tell us what they were stepping on the court for,” Ross said. “It was about supporting the people that are out there supporting you.”
The girls, who played first on Wednesday night, faced tremendous pressure because a loss would have erased any chance for ECS to win the McLeod series, even if the boys won their game.
Smoliak said an emphasis on forcing the Eagles to make moves to the left was made before the tip off. Rebounding and ball movement were focal points as well.
A dominant first-quarter, mixed with some defensive breakdowns in the second was the story for the ECS girls in the first half of their game. That is, until Kristen Skjonsby hit a buzzer beater three-pointer, sending the crowd into a wild frenzy and giving the Elecs a 31-20 lead heading into the second half.
Made baskets were hard to come by in the third quarter and the Elecs stumbled slightly, unable to finish the plays underneath the basket. An all-barrel’s blazing final push, however, put an end to the Eagles’ hopes of making a comeback in the fourth quarter.
The final score was 65-62.
Skjonsby finished with 20 points, while her teammate Tess Lindquist dropped a game-high 21 points.
Skjonsby, who has often been the Elecs’ catalyst on offence with her combination of ball handling skills, speed and solid perimeter shooting, described the moments after the game as “indescribable,” and praised her teammates’ for showing poise and remaining focused throughout the season.
“I didn’t know how good we were going to be at the start of the season, but this has turned out to be the best team I’ve ever played on,” she said.
The entire girls’ team, which consists of several junior players, was able to get a taste of the on-court atmosphere on Wednesday night.
“They saw how much this tournament meant to us and played so well,” Skjonsby said, adding Smoliak stressed the importance of the tournament as well, in addition to what it meant to the senior players, who had watched the Elecs lose the tournament for many years.
“I’m really proud that everyone got to play,” Smoliak said.
With one hard-fought victory in place, it was time for the boys’ team to accomplish the same.
Unfortunately, the Elecs allowed the Eagles to go on a 10-0 run before finally scoring their first basket.
Ross said the team was much more focused this time around to start the game and the slow start was an unfortunate obstacle they had to overcome.
And overcome it they did.
Spearheaded by Carter Kuchinka’s double-double performance with 10 rebounds and 16 points, the Elecs clawed their way back into the game and led by one heading into the second half.
The Eagles, however, responded in kind and opened up the third quarter with a 10-2 run.
Estevan responded to the run, and in the fourth quarter, allowed Weyburn to score only one point.
“It’s like we had to see Weyburn’s intensity before we could match it,” Ross said.
A clutch steal by Matt Haux in the final minutes, followed by a huge 3-pointer by Kuchinka gave the Elecs the lead.
Some free throws and careful ball handling ultimately resulted in a victory for the Elecs.
The final score was 64-56
Mitchell Clark, one of the few Grade 12s on the team, said winning the McLeod series after witnessing the losing streak continue while growing up, made the victory that much sweeter.
“It feels amazing,” he said. “My brother played for four years before I got here, and I’ve been playing here for three now and getting that win now … there’s nothing better.”
Clark acknowledged the adversity they faced early on in the game but praised his team for keeping their cool and remaining confident in each other.
“We knew we had to have that no-quit effort, and we knew if we just kept our heads in it and kept going, we would be there in the end.”
