The Bashaw Rebels senior boys basketball squad were nearly equal to all of the challenges they faced in order to make the playoffs.
However, they couldn’t overcome them all and fell Feb. 27 to the visiting Forestburg Falcons by a score of 51-47 leaving Bashaw out of the zone playoff tournament.
For head coach Kyle McIntosh, the game was a tale of two halves and literally all about his club fulfilling the roles they were handed.
“We were down four starters, due to injuries and other circumstances, and we came out sluggish in that first half as we weren’t quite as prepared to deal with what we saw,” he said about the 32-22 deficit the Rebels faced at half time.
“Earlier in the year, we would’ve let that defeat us and it would have become a 20, 30 or 40 point loss. In fact, we lost to Forestburg by 40 early in the season.
“But the fact that our team brought us to within two with just a over a minute left, that just shows the grit and resiliency and fortitude that has been built up in this time over the course of the season.”
McIntosh added a lot of his bench was made up of second string players, all of whom stepped up to nearly get them through to the playoffs.
“Each on of them earned and deserved every minute they got,” he said.
“Ethan Taylor threw himself out there, taking some big hits and making some big shots. Carver Middleton, our extra centre, grinded it out on his shifts and played good aggressive defence. Mark Carlson went from centre to guard in order to take some of the heat off Nate Golinowski and Hunter Miller, both of whom were not used to the intensive one-on-one pressure they were getting.
“There were a lot of roles they all played and they did was they needed to nearly equalize that game late. We came incredibly close.”
Meanwhile, the challenge the Rebels didn’t expect to face was the inconsistent officiating — from no calls under the basket to soft fouls that should not be called at this level.
The calls were extremely disproportionate against Bashaw, with the Rebels dinged for 20 to just eight for Forestburg on the night.
“We expect a couple of extra calls just because of the type of defence we play. Especially in the second half, we played our typical aggressive, hands-on, hands-up basketball,” he said.
“We know that we are chippy at times and can really grind it out, but that was challenging.”
McIntosh explained there were a few baskets Forestburg should not have gotten, but as a collective the team fought through and kept going.
“We are like that Energizer bunny that just keeps going,” he said.
“Next year, we lose all five of our Grade 12s, but we have seven coming up.
“However, all but one of the players out there against Forestburg are what will carry us next season. Those players have gotten meaningful minutes for a good part of the season, but the level of depth we have is incredible. A lot of the teams have put on notice for next year that this is our league to win.”
