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Express gets results with defence

KLO Middle School was unstoppable during the KVR Hooper Bowl III tournament on the weekend.
1202-Feb
KVR Express' Sydney Foster dodges a South Kamloops player as she drives for the basket during the third annual KVR Hooper Bowl last weekend.

KLO Middle School was unstoppable during the KVR Hooper Bowl III tournament on the weekend.

“KLO was clearly the class of the girls tournament as their smallest margin of victory was 15 points,” said KVR Express coach Blaire Haddrell of the Kelowna-based team, which went 4-0. “They are a well-coached team with a lot of size. They know how to run an organized, patient offence where they always seem to get good looks at the hoop.”

KLO opened the tournament with a 46-31 win against South Kamloops, then defeated Fulton (Vernon) 61-16, Sahali (Kamloops) 37-19 and Abbotsford 47-18.

Haddrell said the tournament was competitive with only four games having a point differential of 20. The Express, which finished second at 3-1, struggled to score but still played strong defence as teams averaged 23.5 points.

“We are putting more motion into our offence right now, so the girls are really trying hard to run the new offence, which results in fewer points as they go through the learning process,” said Haddrell. “On the Saturday, we did struggle on our layups, but that was partially due to defensive pressure.”

The team was led by tournament all-star Stephanie Ortiz, as she was second on the team in scoring, but played every position except post. Since the Express has been plagued by injuries to their second and third point guards, Ortiz stepped in to average 24 minutes a game. Anika Holowaty led the Express offensively averaging 10 points per game

“These were four great games to help prepare us for playoffs on Feb. 17 to 18,” said Haddrell, who received several positive comments about the tournament.

The remaining girls results had South Kamloops in third at 3-1, Skaha Lake Middle School in fourth at 2-2. Vernon finished sixth at 2-2.

Oliver was the best on the boys side winning their games by a minimum of 21 points. The Express boys have made improvements during the season.  While out matched physically, they showed effort and heart in finishing fifth.

"The boys faced some tough competition over the weekend," said Express coach Rene Aubin. "We knew going into the tournament that we would be outsized and less experienced than the other teams. Despite this, the guys competed and battled in every game."

Aubin added that coaches, parents and other spectators commented on how much heart the Express players performed with.

"No matter what the score, the boys focus on executing our offensive and defensive systems in line with the theme of our team this year - the pursuit of perfection," he said.

Abbotsford Middle School placed second while Fulton from Vernon finished third. SLMS was fourth.