Moral victories are hard to come by in championship games.
However, in giving the powerhouse Calgary Storm their most competitive game of the season, the Okotoks Magic walked away with their heads held high after dropping the U-17 Calgary Minor Basketball Association (CMBA) spring league final 56-52, June 9 at Lester B. Pearson School in Calgary.
“That team basically blew every team out throughout the whole season,” Magic coach Lawrence Cayetano said of the Storm. “This was the toughest game they probably played and it was the toughest game we played.”
The Calgary club was the class of the CMBA, boasting a 6-0 record and a staggering point differential of 218.
The Magic gave the Storm their closest margin of victory in the regular season, but the contest was anything but a nail biter.
“We played that team before and lost by 26 last time and ever since then everyone on the team was thinking about it, we wanted to beat them so bad,” said Magic forward Noah Wilkie.
Okotoks guard Seichi Kyle said the Magic took satisfaction from giving the Storm a competitive final.
“We wanted to make sure they knew they couldn’t just walk over everyone,” Kyle said. “That they had to work for their gold medal.”
Kyle led the Magic with 17 points, with Wilkie chipping in 14 of his own.
“Both teams came out to play, we worked really hard and I think we left it all out there on the floor,” said Kyle, a Grade 11 guard on the Foothills Composite High School Falcons Senior boys team. “It was just a couple bounces that didn’t go our way and we missed a few foul shots.”
Wilkie, a Grade 10 forward with the Falcons, said the Magic showed a lot of character in the final minutes going on a 12-2 run to close out the match.
“We just played with heart and tried to get to every loose ball,” Wilkie said. “At the end there it didn’t seem likely that we were going to comeback, but we just didn’t quit
The Storm featured a dynamic frontline with athletic bigs who drove the paint on a slightly undersized Okotoks club. Cayetano said playing zone defence was the best way to tackle Calgary’s size and athleticism.
“To kind of keep their offence on the perimeter,” he said of the Magic game plan. “We wanted them to earn their points shooting outside or on the free throw line.”
What the Magic lacked in size they made up with speed in the open court, and plenty of it. Cayetano said the Magic have always been a strong transition team.
“We’re definitely a run and gun team,” he said. “Absolutely fast break first. I’ve coached three-quarters of this team for about five or six years now and we’ve always been a smaller team and that’s what we’ve always worked on is our quickness.”
The Magic played to their strengths during the CMBA regular season, earning a 5-1 record and the second seed in the playoffs.
“We had a very hard fought season,” Kyle said. “We enjoyed playing with each other and worked well as a team. Hopefully everyone has a good off-season and on their (school) teams next year.”
The Magic roster is composed of 10 players from the Foothills Falcons Senior and JV teams, as well as point guard Brayden xxxxxxx from the Holy Trinity Academy Knights.
Kyle said the familiarity of the Foothills players on the Magic should buoy the Falcons Senior team next season.
“We definitely get some chemistry with each other and we know how we play,” Kyle said. “We should have a strong team next season.”
The Okotoks Minor Basketball Association (OMBA) is accepting registration starting this week for the 2012-13 season. Cayetano said spaces are limited and recommends registering as soon as possible. The OMBA features programs for athletes aged seven to 19, from the Tike to the Junior level. For more information on the OMBA go to its website at www.okotoksbasketball.com
