By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — The ingredients are all there for another successful season for Davidson’s senior boys basketball team.

What’s needed is a sustained effort and a determination to win, instead of just working to avoid losing, coach Kim Rettger said.

Last year’s senior boys team made history, winning Davidson its first provincial basketball title at Hoopla. Seven of those players graduated in June.

While the path to victory hasn’t been so direct this year, Rettger said Davidson is still among the top four 1A teams in the province, along with Rocanville and Middle Lake.

“All three of us are right in the lead,” said Rettger, adding that the victory would go to the team that makes the fewest mistakes and executes complete games.

The senior Raiders hosted eight teams in a home tournament the weekend of Jan. 20 and 21. Middle Lake won the weekend, defeating Rocanville by more than 20 points.

Rettger said it was a weekend of solid play for all participating teams, adding, “The calibre of basketball is just amazing.”

Davidson played a total of three games, easily defeating Langham in the opener on Friday night.

However, the two games on Saturday — against Rocanville and Norquay — proved more challenging, resulting in two close losses for the Raiders.

Coach Kim Rettger said he believes the team was up to the challenge in both games, but failed to keep its efforts up all the way through.

“There’s some work to do,” he said. “We’re in the games, we’re just not quite ready to play a complete game, it seems.”

For the full story, see the Jan. 30 edition of The Davidson Leader or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.