Community Champions: Girls take on boys in MYBA pre playoffs games

Above: Both Bantam teams pose for a photo Tuesday night. Below: Hailey Van Brabant drives to the basket for two points as Alex Pellerin gives chase. Brynn Hamm pulls up for a jump shot over Preston Landry. – Submitted Photos

by Stephen Dafoe

It’s been a good season for the Morinville Orijen Sabretooths this year. The Morinville Youth Basketball Association (MYBA) geared up for provincials Tuesday and Wednesday night with a couple of girls Vs. boys games for their Bantam and Midget teams.

Tuesday night saw the Bantam Girls defeat the Bantam Boys 45-25. Wednesday night, the Midget Boys won against the Midget Girls by a score of 85-29.

MYBA President James Bedford said the boys vs. girls games are important to the association for a few reasons.

“Most importantly, they give our teams a chance to get an extra game in while they wait for playoffs to resume on Feb. 24. Also, since we don’t play any league games in Morinville, these exhibition games make it easier for friends and family to come out and catch a game; hopefully a lot will take advantage of this opportunity,” Bedford said. “The dynamic of it being boys vs. girls isn’t really too significant in my mind; either team is capable of winning in each of the two games being played. Maybe for some, they will show that the girls are capable of hanging with the boys, or even beating them, but I think that anyone who has seen these teams play would already know that that’s the case.”

Bedford said this season has been a good one for the Sabretooths overall.

“We’ve had several new coaches and assistant coaches join the association,” Bedford said. “A few of our teams struggled in the early rounds of EYBA play but started to pick up their share of wins when the teams were re-seeded, and they began playing more evenly matched competition.

Bedford said Coach Darryl Paziuk’s Bantam Girls team finished the regular season ranked second in Division C and had a great shot at winning an EYBA medal on Mar. 3 and going on to play in the provincial championships later in March.

“Coach Steve Jones’ Juvenile Boys finished their season with a record of 7-2, and Coach Jason Misener’s Juvenile Girls blew away most of their opponents, finishing 7-1 in EYBA play,” Bedford said. “Our Mites program, for players aged 6-8, has been going strong under Coach Jeremy Smith. Another highlight of the season is that in January we helped send 21 of our players to a shooting clinic in Edmonton put on by NBA shooting coach, Dave Love.”

Below – the Midget Boys defeated the Midget 85-29.

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