By Nathan Kanter

Junior Crusaders keep the wins coming with gold in Lloyd

Jan 16, 2017 | 11:00 AM

The JP II junior boys basketball team began the new year right where they left off — in the win column — after they claimed the gold medal at the “Border Battle” tournament this past weekend in Lloydminster.

The Crusaders notched wins over the Bishop Lloyd Lancers and NBCHS Vikings in the round robin and then defeated the Jonas Sampson Stingers of Meadow Lake 67-51 in the final.

“I think our depth prevailed this weekend,” said Crusaders head coach Nate Jurgens. “They weren’t easy games for us by any means. Our Friday game we had to chip away and come back.”

Piling up wins is nothing new for this team, as they have compiled an 11-0 overall record in tournament and exhibition play this season.

Jurgens said having this much depth, which has been a factor in their success this year, is new to him.

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“We’ve got a really deep bench. Even if we get into foul trouble — which we did have happen this past weekend — there’s always someone willing to step up,” he said. “To have [that depth] is great. That’s what the boys say too: the third quarter is our quarter, that’s where we find a way to pull away and open the gap.”

The Crusaders don’t really build the streak up all that much, and instead focus on treating it like any other game.

“They go there, they’re loose, they have fun, and that’s kind of what us as coaches try to do — is not really put it on a pedestal,” Jurgens said. “[We] just let them go play basketball and do what they do. That works for them. They don’t think about it too much, they just go play and have fun.”

Moving forward, Jurgens said there are a couple of areas that need work, but top of the list is moving the ball around with pace and getting everyone involved in the offence.

“We’ve got to continue to promote ball movement,” Jurgens said. “Moving the ball a little bit quicker, moving our bodies and boxing out on the defensive end for rebounds [are] some things we still have to focus on.”

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11