Even under the shadow of the Three Sisters, there will be no three-peat for the Bow Valley Peaks basketball team.
The two-time defending champs were caught snoozing in their first game of the Peaks tournament last weekend, dropping a decision to Red Deer before eventually finishing third in the men’s 35 and older competition.
“We ran into a hot team, and we were not,” said Caleb Moss, whose team lost to the eventual winners – the Sky Kings to open the tourney.
“We came out sleepy in the first half,” Ben Jackson said. “We missed (Tom) Sullivan,” referring to former teammate and one of the top players in Canadian basketball history.
Despite being up by nine points at the half, the Peaks fell victim to some hot shooting from their rivals.
After their initial loss, the Peaks, all friends of CCHS coach Glenn Nelson, settled into their groove, winning their final game over Red Deer 87-65.
“We hit our shots, played good defence and we benched our coach and everything flowed from there,” Moss joked.
The tournament is in its 32nd year and organizer Nelson said it’s great to see it still filling up.
“It’s certainly the most popular in Western Canada and perhaps one of the largest,” Nelson said.
Canmore did have several players in the over 40 category, as Nelson threw together a team of CCHS high school players and coaches to fill out the tournament. The move allowed the tournament to run smoothly, however some of the over 40 players were a tad miffed trying to keep up with the likes of 17-year-old Paolo DeSoto.
Against the Edmonton Snowsnakes, DeSoto led all scorers with 23 points in a 74-66 victory. The ‘Mature Peaks’ team, led by former Canmore Collegiate High School teacher Jim Forrest and a gaggle of high school boys, took control of their match on the fast break, scoring almost half of their points on layups.
The Snowsnakes countered with a tough inside game, controlling the boards and twice coming within two points of the hometown boys. However, the Peaks proved to be no slouches from beyond the three point line.
On the women’s side, Canmore finished second with a team led by Carole Nelson. That squad also featured a combination of over 35 players and high school students.
