The junior Wolves of Grand Forks Secondary are still undefeated following two more victories in the last week. However, the victories came in very different fashion.
GFSS faced rival Stanley Humphries (Castlegar) in their home gymnasium on Jan. 13.
Castlegar came in the more prepared squad after already competing in nine games compared to the wolves three. “(Stanley) Humphries was the more organized squad in the first half. They moved the ball well, made smart passes, and their three standout players all scored on layups. That’s a recipe for success for any team.”
The Junior Wolves were down 25-16 at halftime, but after a focused talk with the team, the wolves came out with a renewed effort in the second half.
“I told them it was all about being mentally strong,” said O’Brien. “We can’t expect to win every game by 40. We didn’t do that last year. Take the adversity, roll with it, and see if it can inspire a better performance.”
O’Brien said the players played a rejuvenated second half, scoring 16 points in both the 3rd and 4th quarters, including a stretch where they hit back to back three-pointers to take a one point lead, winning the emotional game 48-43.
The following Monday, GFSS was back on the road and back to winning by large margins, travelling to L.V Rogers (Nelson) for an away game in a tough gym.
Team captain Tieren Dolan led the charge starting on the defensive end, finishing with 17 points 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 8 steals, leading his team to a 65-33 victory. Coach O’Brien was happy with the early success, but is keeping his team looking ahead. “These were two good wins going into this weekend. We play L.V Rogers in the opening game of our tournament in Trail, and there is a good opportunity we could play Humphries again in the final. If we keep improving we should be 9-0 at this time next week.”