By Michael Joel-Hansen

Crusaders top Marauders to advance in tournament play

Jan 12, 2019 | 9:38 AM

The Carlton Crusaders senior girls basketball team came out on top against their local rivals, the École St. Mary Marauders Friday afternoon. The Crusaders won it 65-37

The game was a quarter-final matchup in the Kelly Smith Memorial Tournament, hosted by St. Mary. With the loss Friday, the drought continues for the Marauders, who have still not been able to win the annual tournament.

Jenn Ferguson, coach of the Carlton team said she was impressed with her team’s effort, especially on defence.

“So we were pleased to see that when we decided to play player to player, which we haven’t played a lot this year, we’ve been playing a lot of zone, that the girls did a great job,” she said.

Ferguson credits the success on defence to extra time working in practice. Along with the extra work, Ferguson said the team has been improving in other ways as well, specifically in terms of coming together as a unit.

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“They’re able to work as a team regardless of which five players are on the court,” she said.

The solid defence performance was helped along by the Crusaders communicating well with each.

“We kind of live by the motto, ‘a quiet team is a losing team,’”she said.

Carlton’s victory Friday afternoon was also down to some strong individual efforts. One player who stood out was Sydney Hobson, who was playing in the post for the Crusaders.

“We were thrilled with the way Syd played,” said Ferguson.

Hobson was aggressive on the boards and grabbed a number of rebounds for her team on both ends of the floor.

Ferguson said Hobson was not 100 per cent heading into the tournament, which made her being able to put out such a strong performance all the more admirable.

“The fact she could still go out and deliver was really important to us,” said Ferguson.

Besides Hobson, Crusaders’ guard Alex Soyko was also a factor on both ends of the floor. Soyko was able to disrupt a number of Marauder passes on the defensive side, while making an impact on offense by helping to facilitate and scoring herself.

“Alex’s heart and determination is what sets her apart from her competition all the time,” said Ferguson.

The Crusaders are set to take on Saskatoon Holy Cross in the tournament semi-finals. The tip off for that game is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.

MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn