Vauxhall Vikings boys basketball team made it to the final of a tournament in Strathmore over the weekend.
Although the tournament run featured three victories, it was the loss to Drumheller in the final that had the biggest learning curve for the team.
“There is that old adage that you can learn more from a loss than the wins sometimes. That loss in the final, the guys took pretty hard and I definitely know what we have to improve on in practice,” said Daryl Johnson, head coach of the Vauxhall Vikings boys basketball team.
The 15-point tournament-final loss had the Vikings face a seven-point deficit at the third-quarter break, but the team’s press to try and get back in the game was negated by Drumheller.
“The one kid’s fast break was so good and we couldn’t cover him for some reason. He was killing us. I threw a bunch of different guys on him, but no one could shut him down,” said Johnson.
Leading up to the final, Vauxhall had a tight six-point victory over Acme to go along with blowout victories over Strathcona Tweedsmuir and host Strathmore to reach the final. Couple that with a 92-38 drubbing of Foremost in River Ridge league play last Wednesday, and such games can be tough to learn from.
“It’s harder to do those things that are going to count against the better teams when everything is just flowing and you don’t have to work at it,” said Johnson. “But on the other hand, they can serve to build the team’s confidence.”
The Vikings are off until Jan. 4 in Taber.