By Darren Lum

Published Jan. 31 2017

A 40-20 win for the visiting I.E. Weldon Wildcats doesn’t take away the effort of the junior boys’ Red Hawks basketball team said coach Gord Cochrane.
Coming in the Wildcats were undefeated and showed their quality using their size to their advantage on Monday Jan. 23 in Haliburton.
Cochrane appreciated how his team played with the odds stacked against them.
“I told the guys they played pretty well. Weldon has two guys much taller than our biggest guy and they were trying to front them – it’s something we’re working on. They didn’t get it done as well as we could have but overall it was a pretty good game.”

With few practices over the winter holidays followed by five snow days during the next two weeks the team had greater difficulty with executing than if they had regular practice he added.
There were still a lot of positives to take away.
“Overall I’d say it was a good game. The guys … really hustled and fight hard on the boards even though they are outmanned because they are shorter” he said.

The physical mismatch was made even more evident early on as the Hawks’ best “big man” Kade Bain wasn’t available until the fourth quarter.
“Cade is a real force on the boards” Cochrane said adding Steve Dudgeon and Coleman Heaven are also strong rebounders. They combined for 10 rebounds five each. With limited playing Bain still pulled down six rebounds to lead the team. Austin French led all Hawks scorers with 11 points.
“The guys are working hard and that’s all I can ask for. They’re improving” he said.
“Most of them work really hard. The ball’s on the ground … they dive right in. They don’t hold back. That’s the kind of effort we like to see” he said.

Hawks guard Tevin Sullivan suffered a sprain in the second half running into his teammate. It’s unknown if he will miss any games which resume after the exam break. The team will hold optional practices to stay sharp during the break.
The league playoffs start the week of Feb. 13.