The Kenaston Kodiaks junior boys basketball team are the 2014 Sun West district champions after putting together two convincing wins over the Davidson Raiders and Biggar Blazers at districts last Wednesday at Davidson School.
The Kodiaks held off a determined Blazers team in the fourth quarter to come out with a 51-42 win in the gold medal game to take home the championship. The Blazers trailed 49-22 heading into the final 10 minutes, but controlled the game in the fourth.
“It was a really close game,” said Kodiaks coach John Jamieson. “We had a really short bench and Biggar had (20) points in the fourth quarter. They played four quarters hard and tired us down. It was an impressive game for them.”
The Kodiaks championship win followed a close 65-54 victory over the Raiders that saw Davidson also stage a fourth quarter comeback only to fall a few points short. The Raiders put up 19 points in the last six minutes of the fourth quarter to give Kenaston a scare.
“That was our toughest match-up,” said Kodiaks co-coach Dan Marsh about the Raiders game. “It was a grudge match because they beat us in the sectional final, so our boys wanted a little bit of redemption. It came right down to the wire. They pressured us like we knew they would and we came out on top in the end.”
Davidson would finish in third place at districts beating the Kindersley Kobras 55-43 in the consolation match. The score doesn’t do the Kobras justice as the game was back and fourth throughout the first three quarters with the score tied at 20-20 at the half and Davidson only up by six entering the final frame.
Raiders coach Blair Frederickson said the main priority for him was getting all his kids onto the court in their last game of the season and he is “happy” that is what happened no matter the final score. He said some players on his team are more advanced in basketball and some are beginners, so having a game where everyone gets an opportunity to play is the best situation.
“From a coach’s or a teacher’s perspective that is great because it gives the kids something positive at the end of the season, so I can get these kids to come back out next year and keep building the program,” said Frederickson, noting in their first game against Kenaston he shortened the bench to try and get the win. “Having that second game was a great opportunity for me to get some of my younger kids and some of my kids who haven’t played that much basketball on the floor and (gain) some game experience.”
To read more please see the March 10 print edition of The Davidson Leader.