Two Cobra Teams Win Divisions in Cochrane Classic

The Cochrane Classic Basketball Tournament continues to be praised by visiting basketball teams as an opportunity to have good quality games early in the start again, stop again season that's high school basketball in Alberta.

"Everyone’s trying to find good quality games early in the season and that’s one of the goals of the tournament is to provide that for visiting teams and for us as well," explains tournament creator and coordinator Doug Jensen  "When we started this tournament one of the advantages of us hosting is we don’t have to travel and that we can invite those outside teams to get those quality teams. But it is to also to showcase our schools, our community and our basketball teams."

In all, 32 teams took to the courts at all three local high schools, Dec. 13-15, eight in each of the junior and varsity division. The Cochrane High boys and girls varsity teams won their divisions while the visiting Camrose Composite High School junior girls team and Joane Cardinal-Schubert High School boys team, of Calgary, won the junior boys title.

Cobras Varsity Girls

Head coach Randy Peron believes the depth of their bench and extensive defensive and offensive playbook makes the Cobras varsity girls team a formidable opponent and they proved it on the weekend. Winning the tournament was especially sweet for the Cobras, who lost in the final last year against Wetaskiwin.

"The returning kids wanted to have a chance to get back in the town final and redeem themselves and go after the title," says Peron, "so I’m very happy for those grade 12s that went through the disappointment of losing the tournament final last year and being able to get past that and ended up victorious. It was a great experience for them."

The team did battle through injuries and the flu bug hitting some of their players and he believes Cochrane High's system of utilizing their full bench comes in handy at times like this.

"The turning point, I believe, was when Makenna Kuzyk shot a deep three, then stole the ball right off the inbound and scored again. So she scored five points in about two seconds and all of a sudden we were up double the score. That seemed to change the momentum and get the girls excited because I know some of them were struggling with the flu bug and it got their adrenaline going and they were able to finish the game on a high."

The Cobras are now 7-0 on the season and now are on a game break into the new year. That will give them a chance to install some new systems as they build momentum towards February and March. 

"We have a lot on our plate that we can offer on the court. I know there were people watching us in the stand in the final but they might have only seen 20 per cent of what we initiate offensively and defensively. It makes it difficult for teams to scout us because we have so much that we can throw at teams during games based on the skillset and size of the other teams. That’s another one of our strengths is our depth to our offensive and defensive systems."

He believes they have one of the best defensive teams in 3A basketball and it showed by allowing opponents only an average of 37 points per game. 

Cobra Varsity Boys

The Cobras varsity boys came back from a six-point deficit at the half to beat the Monsignor McCoy Colts, 81-70, in the final.

Cobras head coach Patrick Court says he wasn't surprised to face the highly-ranked Medicine Hat team in the final. They are a school known to have a solid basketball program and also had a solid performance in the tournament. He believed the Colts were dealing with some injuries issues by the tournament's end and the Cobras worn them down.

This particular Cobras boys varsity team has been greatly anticipated by many. Its core members have been playing together since they were young.

"It’s is fun to see these guys playing together," says Court.

The team has high hopes on the season and aspire to go deep into the post-season.

"Our goal for the year is to not only make it to provincials but to do very well in provincials. We hosted last year and it was a lot of fun. We ended up ranked ninth and we hope to do better this year."

They did, though, have a rough start in Rocky View divisional play earlier this month. In their season opener against the Chestermere Lakers, they lost a squeaker, 89-80 before rebounding with a 72-48 win over Springbank.

Court says the team was a bit shellshocked going into their first game and it came after long football and volleyball seasons. He doesn't see the loss as a bad thing.

"It was a good challenge. I think it was good for our guys to experience that and to realize it's not going to be easy and that we’ve got to work. Our first game is evidence to that."

The team is now preparing to play at the Sugar Bowl in Raymond, AB. during the Christmas break. They'll gain plenty of experience during this premier 4A tournament.

Cobra Alumni Coaches Camrose Team

Even though a Cochrane team didn't win the junior girls division, there is a tie to the community.

Camrose head coach is Jessica Bender, a Cochrane High graduate and Cobras alumni. During the tournament, she was aided behind the bench by her mom, Linda, who teaches at local schools and also coached her daughter years ago.

"It was a good excuse to visit family and introduce her current team to her roots," says Jensen. "That was kind of special."

Jensen salutes the many volunteers who stepped forward to make the tournament possible. It started as a Cochrane High tournament 11 years ago with the goal of being a community-wide event that involves all three high schools. Keeping that vision in mind, it changed to a December tournament last year to accommodate St. Timothy teams.

"Everybody at all the other schools did an amazing job and were good hosts for all the visiting teams. It was a very competitive tournament and we were lucky enough to have two of our hometown teams win this weekend."