The SPAA basketball season opened with a bang on Dec. 10 with a competitive and hard-fought game between the Vilna Mustangs and the F.G. Miller Crusaders.
The first quarter was an even one, with both teams working to find their feet during the season’s initial minutes. By the first break in the action, FG Miller had earned a 12-8 lead.
The tide would turn in the second, however, thanks in part to the long-range shooting of one particular Mustang.
“We had a guy come into the game in the second quarter, and he had the hot hand,” head coach Joe Harrington said of sharpshooter Jimmy Houle. “He stepped up and did his job.”
The home team enjoyed a 27-20 lead during halftime, and kept the foot on the gas throughout the third quarter. Vilna was up 39-32 heading into the fourth.
An exciting final quarter saw the visiting Crusaders battle almost all the way back. The score was 46-44 for Vilna with a mere 1:16 left on the clock before Vilna made a final push and took the win. The final score read 50-44 in favour of the Mustangs.
“We have a lot of technical things we need to work on with positioning and stuff, but for the first game of the season I thought the guys played well and worked hard,” Harrington said.
Houle, the game’s leading scorer, hit five three-point shots on his way to scoring a total of 21 points in the contest.
“That’s my best skill is three pointers,” Houle said after the game, adding that he’s working to improve on his “driving and perimeter shooting.”
“I think we’re headed in the right direction, and it’s a great start for us for the season,” Harrington said of the win. “We definitely need to work on our conditioning, just because we have a short bench.”
Other scorers for the Mustangs included TJ Nelson with 19, Jacob Logan-Halfe with six, and Trent Delver with four.
Harrington went on to add that a successful season for the Mustangs would include not only wins, but also a commitment to being a disciplined team.
“Obviously we would like to do well in Zones and hopefully have a shot at the 1A Provincials,” he said. “But our goal is to be a hardworking team, and one that plays the game hard but plays it the right way.”
