The Dinos used some rest, and key shooting to Capture the Selects Invitational Tournament which took place at Mount Royal College over the May long Weekend. Working with a ‘quirky’ schedule saw the Jr. Dinos get a by on Friday Night, only play one game on Saturday, and play two games in 3 hours on Sunday including the Finals. The Finals was a re-match against the Airdrie Elite East team that the Jr. Dinos played in the Stars Season Opener. Despite some cold shooting, the Dinos were able to beat the Chargers 65-48 and capture the tournament title.

The first game for the Dinos was a second round affair against the Selects Gr. 11 team. This game saw the Dinos play one of their more complete halves of basketball all spring as they were able to forge ahead 24-1 and go into the half 48-15. Balanced scoring by the entire team allowed the Jr. Dinos to take the game 94-39. The Selects were just unable to handle the speed and pressure defense applied by the Jr. Dinos. Cam Perry was the catalyst in every way in this game for his team. Playing aggressively on defense, and running the floor on offense, Cam led the Dinos with 17 points including 7 for 11 from the floor while pulling down 3 rebounds, blocking 3 shots, and grabbing 5 steals. Other double figure scorers included the ‘tired’ Ian Tomaszewski with 14 (6 for 9 from the floor) while adding 7 rebounds and 5 steals, Mike Berlando, who had a very strong overall tournament with 12 points including 6 for 6 from the free throw line, and Jordan Hone with 11. Joey Theriault had another great defensive game pulling down 11 rebounds.

The second game matched the Dinos up against the Cochrane Cowboys for a 9:00am start on Sunday morning. The Jr. Dinos, determined not to let the start time foil their plans to make it to the finals, came out very strong, and bolted ahead to a 21-7 lead early. Capitilizing on the Cowboys turnovers, and their willingness to play an uptempo game, the Jr. Dinos were able to take the game 86-37 after leading 53-17 at half. The Jr. Dinos were led by the double-double performance of Taylor Norum who scored 12 points on 5 for 11 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds including 5 offensive. Other double digit scorers for the Dinos were Cam Perry with 13 points, Jordan Hone with 12 and Mike Berlando with 10. The Dinos had another well balanced attack as Kendall Boese, Tyler Fidler, Jordan Bachynski, and Pierce Anderson all had 8 points. Kendall Boese was all over the floor in this game grabbing 8 rebounds, taking 3 steals, and dishing 3 assists. This win set up the finals match-up with Airdrie Elite East.

The Jr. Dinos were anxious to start this game as they wanted a re-match with Airdrie feeling they hadn’t played their best game against the Chargers in the Stars Season Opener. The Dinos came out quickly, pressuring a under manned Chargers team forging ahead 22-10 in the early portion of the game. However, the Dinos shot 13 for 40 (32%) in the first half and saw themselves only being up by 2 at half-time. The Chargers were once again led by the stellar play of Dominyc Cowardand Zach McGee who scored 19 and 22 points respectively.

The second half saw the Dinos come out very strong. Once again, the Dinos were able to use their depth, speed and defense to stifle the Chargers attack. In one of their better all around defensive games of the summer, the Jr. Dinos held Airdrie to 29 points in the first half and 19 points in the second half to capture the tournament with a 65-48 win. The pressure defense applied by Jordan Hone, Brennen Fule, Ian Tomaszewski, Trevor Debolt, Kendall Boese, and Cam Perry was the difference in the game. The second half also turned for the Dinos as they pushed the Ball inside to Pierce Anderson. Pierce finished with a team high 14 points including 10 in the second half. The other double digit scorer for the Jr. Dinos was Ian Tomaszewski who finished with 10, and Tyler Fidler with 10. Jordan Hone finished with 9 while Jordan Bachynski and Kendall Boese each added 6. Kendall Boese had another strong game scoring 6 points, grabbing 4 steals, 4 rebounds, and 4 defensive touches. Once again, it was the Dino defense that was the difference in the game as they were able to capitilize on the Chargers turnovers. Another great win for the club, the Jr. Dinos improve their overall win/loss record in U-17 tournaments over the past two summers to 30-0.

The Jr. Dinos play the same Airdrie Elite East team in their Spring League on Thursday at 6:00pm at Bert Church High School.

Playing in their 2nd tournament of the spring season the U-16 boys played in the Selects Invitational with hope of improving each game throughout the tournament. Their 1st game in the tournament was played against the Selects 10’s who were a very strong group of players
offensively. The U-16 boys seemed very tentative as they were not able to play their style of game throughout. The final score was 70-51 for the Selects who ended up making 9 (3’s). Top performers for the U-16 Dinos were Ben Bertolami with 13 point and 7 rebounds and Scott Veniot with 8 points in a game the team wished they could play over.

Their next challenge in the tournament was against the Aviators out of Edmonton. The Dinos beginning to settle into a better team approach offensively as well as a improved defense proved too much for the Edmonton team and the Dinos prevailed 69-40. The team’s main focus all season is to limit the opposition to scoring no more than 50 points per game in order to be successful. This was a much improved effort with balance throughout the lineup. Top performers for the Dinos were Fraser Wayne, with his quick acceleration, scored 17 points along with 5 rebounds. Jesse Denscombe finished with a double/double-12 points and 13
rebounds while Tyson Kwasney had 9 points 5 rebounds and Chris Loubardeas finished with 8 points 3 assists 2 steals. A much improved effort setting up their final game to be played against the Selects 11’s for the honor of finishing 4th in the tournament.

Their has been a very healthy rivalry between the Jr. Dinos and Selects Clubs and this game proved that the rivalry is on. Again with a focus on strong team defense and pushing the ball up the court as much as possible the Dinos came out and played a very determined team game. A smothering team defense, with very good balance offensively, the Dinos came out on top with an impressive 59-44 victory to finish the tournament in 4th place. Top performers for the Dinos were Fraser Wayne with 15 points 6 rebounds and 5 steals, Jesse Denscombe with 10 points 9 rebounds and a blocked shot, Adam Zywotkiewicw with 8 points 11 rebounds, while Chris Loubardeas and Scott Veniot each with 8 points. The team played their best team defense of the season and ran their offense very well. The team now heads out on the road as they
will be competing in the Hornet Classic in Regina next weekend.

By Coach Randy Peron