The Chemainus Secondary School Cougars senior boys basketball team is receiving loads of experience in a very short time.
Coach and school athletic director Kyle Peruniak took the team on a road trip to Ucluelet for four games in the span of two days, Friday and Saturday, against Ucluelet and Ahousat.
The Cougars lost all four against similar single-A competition, but Peruniak likes what he saw from the team.
“I had a good squad of eight guys,” he indicated. “They all played lots. The guys played with a lot of heart.”
The best game of the lot was the Saturday morning encounter with Ucluelet.
“We were down 15-20 (points) and we clawed back in the third quarter to be within five,” noted Peruniak. “We just couldn’t hit shots and they pulled back ahead.”
That’s been a common malady for the team this season, with the offense not quite clicking to match the tenacity of the defence.
“A lot of improvement, still can’t score,” summed up Peruniak.
“We play man-to-man and we played full-court defence the whole tournament,” he added. “It takes a huge amount of energy and skill to do well.”
Patrick Wang was the MVP of the series for Chemainus, utilizing his speed to make it difficult to guard against him.
Earlier in the week, the Cougars faced Brookes of Shawnigan Lake at home and lost. That was disappointing to Peruniak considering Chemainus led 18-6 after the first quarter and 28-15 at halftime.
