The Davidson Raiders senior boys basketball team defeated the Southey Screaming Eagles 57-45 in the championship game of Davidson’s home tournament held earlier this month, which secures the blue and white another milestone in what is shaping up to be a memorable season.
“It was a really tough game, one of the toughest games we’ve had the whole tournament,” said Raiders forward Pat Nordmarken, who scored six points against Southey. “We knew it would be a close game, but I’m really glad the team pulled through. We had some tough times, but we were able to win the game.”
Both clubs came out of the gate strong in the final exchanging scores back and forth leading to a close 12-10 lead for the Eagles after the first quarter. A strong inside game from forward Vanner McDonnell and key outside shooting by guard Huck Rettger helped Davidson take a 26-23 lead heading into the half. The third quarter was an offensive struggle for both clubs as each team’s defence stepped up their game resulting in a 38-33 Raiders lead after three. The fourth quarter featured a quick offensive surge halfway through the frame with five different Raiders getting on the score sheet pulling the home side to a lead they would not give up.
“I was really pleased with the overall effort,” said Raiders coach Kim Rettger. “We had to play a wide open full court press virtually the entire tournament, but really this game because they have a team that shoots from the outside and shoots from the inside. We were working hard (outside the key) and we came back with rebounding the ball and it was back and forth. They attacked us really well. It was a struggle.”
Nordmarken said the two games Davidson played before the final, a 56-50 win over the Moose Jaw Central Collegiate Cyclones on the first night of the Jan. 17-18 tourney and a 91-66 showing the next afternoon against the Langham Vikings, were both hard-fought games that could have gone either way.
“Moose Jaw Central were really good for being a Grade 9 and 10 team and I’m pretty sure when they get older they’ll be a really good team to play against,” he said. “When we played Langham, that was a really insane game. I’m glad that we were able to score that many points.”
Rettger said his team displayed a well-balanced attack throughout the tournament where they were able to run a strong transition press by slowing the game down and making good decisions with the ball. He said this is not the easiest thing for a young team to do because they generally want to run the offence quick, but all players who saw time on the court bought into the plan and worked hard at executing it.
“I could think of 12 different guys that had various moments where they had a run, but it wasn’t just one kid all tournament or one particular game,” he said. “Lots of them had really great moments. In this kind of tournament where we have three really close games, it takes everyone.”
To read more please see the January 27 print edition of The Davidson Leader.