The Cochrane High Cobras and Bow Valley Bobcats senior basketball teams are trying to get back into game shape after a long Christmas break, where all the Cochrane based school teams’ final game was played on either Dec. 19 or 20.
The senior Cobra girls team took on the Springbank Phoenix on Dec. 19 and came away with a 79-40 victory. They won’t have another league game until Jan. 30 when they take on the W.H. Croxford Cavaliers. The Cobras currently have a record of 2-1 on the season, outscoring opponents 190-161 in their three games.
Cobras head coach Randy Peron said he was happy with how the first half of the season went, even though the Cobras faced some adversity along the way.
“It’s been an up and down season so far. We were struck hard with injuries to start the year and we maxed out with seven players at one point being injured … so it really shortened our roster as well as made it difficult to practise when you’re down that many bodies,” Peron said.
“From point guards to forwards, ankles to knees, you name it, we probably got it. The challenge was trying to get our new concepts together for our defence to start the year … that’s been the biggest challenge.”
“We have a new defensive system that Doug (Jensen) and I picked up at a coaching clinic in Vegas. We knew it would take time to adjust the new philosophies of this man-to-man defence but with not having everybody being able to practise, it’s taken a bit longer to incorporate that concept.”
“On the plus side, because of the injuries some players who might not have played as much when we had a full roster, got more playing time and the development for these players has quickened due to lack of bodies … as of right now, we’re finally 100 per cent healthy, so we can move forward with our systems and hopefully avoid the injury bug from here on out.”
While the Cobras have had a whopping 42 days between league games, coaches made sure the players were prepared for their game against the Cavaliers on Jan. 30 by scheduling tournaments, exhibition games and practices.
“Because of this break, we took the team to Phoenix (Arizona) so we were in a tournament during the week of Christmas so that gave us three games. We had an exhibition game last week with Strathmore as well as another one this week, so we’ll have played five games before our next tournament at the end of this month and before we see league action again,” Peron said.
“So we’ll of played eight games total before our next league game comes into effect.”
The Bow Valley Bobcats senior girls team also had a major break in their schedule – their last game on Dec. 19 at Bert Church was postponed. The 0-2 Bobcats will play again on Jan. 31 when they take on the George McDougall Mustangs. Their game against Bert Church will be rescheduled for a date later in the season.
On the senior boys side, the Cobras have done nothing but dominate the competition. The team is 3-0 in league play, beating George McDougall, Chestermere and Springbank by a combined score of 280-181. Cochrane will play again on Jan. 31 when they host W.H. Croxford at home.
