The DVSS Senior Boys Dynos returned this weekend from provincials as silver medallists.
The Dynos had a stellar season that culminated with a second seed at the tournament. They played hard but only three points down the wire separated them from the championship.
“Second place out of a couple hundred schools is pretty great,” said head coach Jeff Messom. “In the end we had a chance to play for the gold medal, that’s all you can ask for. The guys played hard, they gave all they could give, and sometimes shots fall, and sometimes they don’t fall.”
The team started out the tournament strong taking on the home team Assumption of Cold Lake, who beat Immanuel Christian to qualify to play the Dynos.
The Dynos cruised to an easy victory, doubling Assumption’s score in the first quarter, and then holding them to a single point in the second. Cody Gouin had 21 points and Kyle Smith had 16. Brock Boyd had a double-double with 10 point and 10 rebounds in the 74-38 win.
This put them up against Picture Butte in the semi final and they provided a little more competition. However the Dynos came through with a 74-51 victory. This time Smith led the way with 23 points and Jordan Britton had 21 points and 11 boards.
This put them in the final against West Island College of Calgary. This team went undefeated in the season and entered the tournament as the top seed.
The two teams were neck and neck for the first quarter, however West Island College pulled away 37-31. The bleeding continued to the point that the Dynos were down by as many as 14 points. The Dynos mounted a come back, despite four players ending up on foul trouble and playing with four fouls in the final period.
“We rolled the dice and kept them in and they gave us a chance to win the game,” said Messom. “We had them on their heels.”
The Dynos went up by two points, however a couple turnovers, a couple missed shots and a couple poorly timed calls saw West Island College take the lead.
West Island College hit a clutch three pointer down the stretch. The Dynos had a chance to do the same, but it rimmed out. West Island College won 70-67.
“You can’t ask for anymore but to give yourself a chance to win and we did that,” said Messom, adding that West Island College was a very talented team.
“We have to give them credit, they were undefeated for a reason,” said Messom.
He said the tournament was a great experience for the players and the host made all the teams feel special about the event.
“There were a lot of excellent basketball games, it was good competition and it was a lot of fun. I think the guys had a good experience. We can’t just look at one game of the season. The whole season was successful,” said Messom.
The Dynos are losing about eight players who are graduating this year.
“They are a good bunch of kids. I think we have a great group of kids coming up to develop. You never know how it goes. We hear every year people say ’you won’t have the same type of result next year,’ and then some kids come in and develop,” said Messom.