By the end of the season, the Kopper Kweens should be in great shape.
Because of continuing problems with player absenteeism, the Kweens often play with no subs, running the same five players from tip-off to the final horn.
In fact, the Kweens (4-3) had to barrow a couple players from the Takhini Gas (6-1) lineup Sunday at FH Collins Secondary, en route to a close 55-52 loss.
“Unfortunately, we have a few players that only play Sundays,” said Kweens’ Alcina Banks. “Sunday is our good day usually, but I think a few people are away on holidays or trips right now.”
The Kweens ended up using two players from the other bench because, with 10 minutes left to play, borrowed player Kate Olynyk went down with an ankle injury and was replaced by Takhini’s Kristy Burgess.
“I feel bad for that,” said Banks.
Despite the borrowed players, the Kweens gave Takhini a tight game. With just 30 seconds left to play, Takhini’s Jelena Antonic sunk one of two free throws to put her team up by one at 53-52.
Then, as the Kweens went for the game winner, Takhini’s Lareina Twardochled stole the ball and brought it up court for a lay-up to end the game.
“They were short players last time too, but they beat us,” said Twardochled, speaking of Kweens’ 66-56 win on October 30.
“That’s because we gave them (some of) our players,” she added jokingly.
After finishing the first half down 29-23, the Kweens eventually jumped out in front at 40-38, after missing four straight shots for the lead.
“We were getting tired in the second half because we didn’t have any subs,” said Banks.
“We really didn’t have much going into the last few minutes. And they’re a fairly tall and a big team, and at the end there we were pretty little, so it’s tough going inside and getting rebounds.”
Marie Cairns and Antonic were the top scorers for Takhini, with 15 and 14 points. However, Kweens’ Michelle Massie topped the game, sinking 23 points.
“My sister is on the other team, so it’s a bit of a rivalry between us,” said Cairns. “So we don’t like to lose … That’s why we play harder against that team.”
Feature Foods still
searching for a win
With seven games under their belt, Feature Foods (0-7) is still striving for that first check in their win column.
“There’s been a few (games) where we would be down by five or 10 the whole game,” said Foods’ Angella Ell, a former member of Team Yukon’s basketball squad.
“But we haven’t been able to get to that two-point game.
“It’s kind of like we’re always trying to fight back, but we never quite get there.”
Foods continued to fall behind the pack Sunday, losing 62-43 to Airport Chalet (4-3).
“It’s hard to say,” said Ell, when asked what is preventing her team from getting their first win. “We’re all pretty good players, but for some reason we’re not clicking and nobody is finishing. It seems we’re just having problems finding our team chemistry.”
The Chalets ended the first half up 34-26, a large part because of a 10-point run, expanding a 20-13 lead to 30-13 with five minutes to play.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Chalets, having lost 68-41 Thursday against the Kopper Kweens and 59-58 to Takhini Gas the previous Sunday.
In fact, the Chalets are still reeling from the loss against Takhini Gas. Tied 56-56 with just seconds to play, the Chalets sunk a pair of free throws to go up by two. However, Takhini’s Nathalie Gionet won the game sinking a three-pointer at the buzzer.
“We’re always missing players because some players can’t come all the time,” said Kralisch. “That makes it hard to make a team out of it. And then there’s always those moments in basketball where you have no explanation of why your shots don’t work at all for the entire game. It was one of those games last time (on Thursday).
“I mean, it wasn’t that bad that we lost,” continued Kralisch. “But it was really bad that we lost that badly.”
Chalet’s Megan Freese and Sarah Crane both had strong games, scoring 24 and 22 points. Ell led the Foods with 16.
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com