The Cochrane Cobras junior-varsity boys basketball team ended the season the way it began, with a win.
The Cobras defeated Airdrie’s Bert Church Chargers 62-41 March 15 in Okotoks to win the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association junior-varsity boys 3A-4A high-school basketball championship.
They did it the same way they won their first game of the Rocky View Sports Association regular season in December, with suffocating defence, lights-out shooting and domination underneath at both ends of the floor.
“It was a great weekend, the kids played outstanding,” said Cobras head coach Jim Forrest. With the Cobras going into Zones ranked No. 1 and host Foothills Composite High School ranked No. 2, some felt those two would meet in the final. But the No. 3-seeded Chargers, who Cochrane beat once in the regular season and the previous week for the Division banner, made the final after ousting Foothills 60-59 in the semifinal.
“Bert Church is a good team. It’s sort of a mixed blessing,” observed Forrest. “You know them (Chargers) but, on the other hand, it’s hard to keep playing the same team over and over again. They know us.”
With Forrest’s youngest son, Ethan, running the floor along with Jake McLellan, the Cobras were in control distributing the ball well, shooting accurately and pounding the boards.
Outside it was Eric Shatosky and Spencer Marchand bombing away from the wing, with Evan Perrault and big man Justin Sambu posting up underneath. Wherever the ball went, the Cobras were there. If they didn’t have it, they’d go get it. And they wouldn’t give it back until they scored.
“It was a hard season, a long season,” said Perrault after the final. “Mainly you just focus. Seeing them (Chargers) multiple times was tough. Our ball distribution was good. We played pretty well as a team.”
The Cobras downed No. 8-seed Canmore 71-37 to open the tournament before taking out Airdrie’s No. 4-ranked George McDougall Mustangs 65-37 in the semi.
Sambu and Perrault had 18 points each in the final, with Marchand draining 13 and Ethan Forrest netting 10.
