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Totem 58: three-peat not in cards for Armada senior girls

A third Totem title wasn't in the cards for the Alberni District Secondary School Armada senior girls, who went 1-2 in tournament play
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A clean sweep of Totem basketball championships wasn't in the cards at Totem 58.

The Alberni District Secondary School senior girls went 1-2 in tournament play. They placed fifth, winning their last game 52-30 against the Mt. Doug Rams on Saturday at ADSS.

“It's disappointing to end up on the other side of the ledger but that's a credit to the other teams who beat us because we didn't beat ourselves,” coach Al Seredick said. “Ballenas (tournament winners) only beat us by two points (53-51) so we were close.”

The Ballenas Whalers are the Totem 58 champions after beating GP Vanier in overtime in the first place game on Saturday.

Armada forward Tia Anderson scored 12 points against the Rams and was named to the tournament all star team.

The Rams were depleted losing three players to injury including stellar guard Carly Sangha, Armada co-coach Greg Freethy said. “They were competitive, scrappy and well coached,” Freethy said.

The team's toughest game was a 63-58 loss to Parklands on Friday night, Seredick said.

Parklands established an inside game with three players over six-feet tall.The game was also rugged with team foul limits being reached early.

The Armada adjusted their defense, switching from a two-three zone to a box-and-one zone to man-to-man defense. Parklands guard Kristy Gallagher couldn't be contained though, and went on to score 32 points in the game.

“They were never ahead by more than five points so our girls gave it back and didn't back down,” Seredick said. “But fouls were our achilles heel.”

Anderson established herself in the post during the tournament, scoring an average of 11 points per game and keeping fouls to a minimum, Seredick said.

But if one player was to be singled out for consistent play it would be point guard Denae Edgard, Freethy said. “She runs the ball well, has good court vision, and makes players around her better. She's a true point guard,” he said. “But our team is balanced. That's what makes it hard to play against us and that's why we're always in it.”

Not three-peating was disappointing but there are lessons to be learned from adversity, Seredick said.

The team's last game was in December and practice over the Christmas holidays was minimal.

Players looked sharp but team play was inconsistent. “We have to learn to execute better because it's a one month push to the North Island and Island championships,” Freethy said. “We want to be our best in mid February."

The Armada are 10-5 on the season. Their next league games are on Tuesday and Thursday.

reporter@albernivalleynews.com

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