"It's a very exciting event for Weyburn and for the senior boys," said Dara Uhren, assistant coach with the WCS Eagles senior boys basketball team. "They're bringing the energy into the building. It's fabulous for the school and the community."
The 88th edition of the McLeod Series between Weyburn Comprehensive and Estevan Comprehensive tipped off last night at the Eagles Gym in Weyburn.
"It's a big thing, like I mean, for the boys, for the girls, and all the fans," commented ECS senior boys head coach Trevor Dutka. "Like, I mean, you talk to people years after and their biggest high school memory is playing in this game, and people across the province actually talk about this game. Referees in Regina that used to ref this game still talk about it and say it's bigger than the Regina City Final and stuff like that. Like, this is a big thing and it's really exciting."
While the boys' game was a tightly fought contest with a final score of 80-75, the senior girls' game saw Estevan run away with it, winning by a final of 72-44.
"Well, Estevan showed up to play and they definitely outplayed us," WCS senior girls head coach Karly Johnson said after the game. "I mean, we lost by, what, 28 points there. It wasn't our best show. We came within seven at one point, but they were hot from the threes, and we just couldn't keep up, even though we tried our hardest. So, hopefully, we'll have a better show in Estevan.
While the Elecs got the win, they aren't planning to rest on their laurels.
"We definitely could have played better," noted ECS senior girls assistant coach Bridget Bjorndalen. "Happy that we came out with a win and we had a really good crowd, and hoping that we just keep the progression going over our break next week with some good practices, and then another good two intense games with the boys and the girls the following week."
In the senior boys' game, the Eagles would go up big in the first quarter before Estevan rallied back, and it became a back-and-forth affair for the rest of the game until Weyburn finally pulled away in the last few moments of the fourth quarter.
"We came out slow," added Dutka. "We didn't play great defence. I thought our shooting was really good. I think we shot 50% from the floor, 40% from three points so our shooting was okay, but I think defensively we can definitely step up."
While Weyburn did command the first quarter, Estevan rallied back in the second and had Weyburn on their heels heading into halftime.
"We just told them to settle down and play the game they know how to play," Uhren commented on what they told the team during the halftime intermission. "They did all the work out there."
While the senior girls did come up short in their game, head coach Karly Johnson still thinks there's a lot that could be done and they're positive heading into the second leg of the annual series.
"We just need more reps shooting. Nothing was dropping for us tonight. Absolutely nothing. We couldn't buy a shot today. So we're hopefully going to get lots of reps, close out faster on their three-point shooters because their number eight got hot tonight."
The Elecs are also looking forward to the rematch coming up in two weeks.
"Hopefully we can just keep the momentum going and come out with a win the next time we play," said Bjorndalen.
As a result of the final scores, Estevan now has a 23-point lead in the four-game total-point series. The second leg of the McLeod series is set for February 26th and will be played in Estevan.