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Chemainus Cougars lose two in junior boys basketball

A 14-point first quarter lead vanishes against Cowichan
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Two losses at home for the Chemainus Secondary School Cougars junior boys basketball team occurred under entirely different circumstances.

Chemainus trailed throughout its game Wednesday and fell 56-26 to Duncan Christian School.

But it was a most unusual scenario that unfolded the next day against Cowichan Secondary School junior boys. Chemainus jumped out to a 20-6 lead after the first quarter, but could only score 14 points the rest of the way in a 40-34 setback.

“We were short probably three of our better players,” said coach Graeme Arkell of the Thursday game.

“Overall, I was really impressed with the effort. We came out strong.”

The Cougars had only two subs on the bench and eventually lost total momentum after Austin Webb fouled out early in the fourth quarter. Webb was the team’s leading scorer in the game with 11 points and C.J. Loranger had 10.

“We had good drives to the net, C.J. was really good, Austin was good at that, Kyle (Brown) did well,” Arkell summed up.

“We had good disciplined play, I thought.”

There wasn’t a lot of fouls, other than the five that put Webb out of the game.

Chemainus’ huge first-quarter lead got whittled down to 24-21 at halftime. In the third quarter, the momentum clearly changed when Cowichan’s Michael Daniels drained a long bomb from centre for a three-pointer at the buzzer that made it 35-30 for Cowichan.

The first quarter was also probably Chemainus’ best against Duncan Christian School. The Cougars only trailed 12-7, but the deficit grew to 27-18 by halftime.

In the third quarter, DCS outscored Chemainus 12-7. The Cougars were held to a mere one point in the fourth quarter.

Loranger led Chemainus with 21 points in that game while Webb added eight and Dawson Bell had three.

“We started out strong,” summarized Arkell. “It wore down as the game went along.”

With such a short season, he wasn’t about to deprive his players of valuable experience.

“I do believe in playing all my players, I believe in that very much,” said Arkell.

“It’s all about having fun. If they get into the senior level, it’s much more competitive.”



Don Bodger

About the Author: Don Bodger

I've been a part of the newspaper industry since 1980 when I began on a part-time basis covering sports for the Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle.
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