Raymond boys unable to qualify for provincials

The Raymond Comets boys’ basketball team picked up a win at zones but wound up on the outside looking in when the dust settled last weekend.

Four teams from the South Zone will compete for the Alberta crown this weekend in Magrath and Raymond, but the Comets won’t be among them. They finished fifth.

Entering zones as the No. 6 seed, Raymond had to face Cardston in its opener, losing 95-70 to drop into the backside bracket.

“We got a good win against Catholic Central,” said head coach Jack McMurray of the team’s next game. “Although, we did have a 10-point lead and only won by one, but we played well for the most part.”

A win to follow would have given the team a shot at continuing its season but the boys tipped off against Chinook next and ran into a very hot team.

“We put together a good game against Chinook but they are a surging team right now. We ended up trading buckets with them and our defence just couldn’t do enough to get the win.”

Chinook won in a shootout, 100-91, effectively ending the Comets’ season. It was a year where a few bounces their way could have meant more favourable results on several occasions.

“We showed we can hang with anyone in the province,” McMurray said. “We were right there knocking on the door a lot this year. We lost a lot of close games.

“We had some great games; we beat Cardston handily about a month and a half ago on our home court, which might have been the highlight of our season. Unfortunately we kind of peaked about three quarters of the way through the season and then we kind of went into a tailspin the rest of the way.”

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