The Hazelton Secondary School Junior boys basketball team competed in the Northwest Zones in Houston on the weekend and finished in third place.
The team which went in ranked second out of 10 teams, landed a 2-1 record for the weekend which teacher sponsor Marlis Zurbrugg said was an impressive finish for the team with only six players that has had to do a “great deal of self coaching” this year after their coach was called away this season.
“They have all worked really hard and ended up doing a lot of work on their own,” she said. “They have basically got themselves where they are this season and that is even more impressive.”
In their first game they beat Smithers Secondary School 34-24 but fell 53-36 in their second game against Port Simpson.
“Our guys played really, really hard and played their best game ever against Port Simpson,” Zurbrugg said. “The really made that team work hard for their points which was even more impressive as they had 18 players compared to our six.”
Despite the hard fought loss, the boys bounced back to win their final game against Centennial Christian School 34-26.
Colton Murrell and Ryan Wright picked up the All stars honours and Zurbrugg said that while most of the boys will be moving up to senior next year, “that will make for a very strong senior team.”