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Tournament tests Jr. Golds’ depth

The SAS Junior Golds Basketball team won three of their four games over the last week.
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Rowan McDonald shoots over of a Fulton Maroons player during a game at the Sullivan Campus Gym on Friday, Jan. 27.

The Salmon Arm Secondary Junior Golds Basketball team won three of their four games over the last week.

The Jr. Golds visited Fulton Secondary in Vernon for a league game on Tuesday Jan. 31.

The Golds beat the Fulton Maroons 72-44.

Daniel Wyss sunk four three-point shots, Gavin Limber scored 12 points and Alton Neid scored 10 and also had six steals. Noah Jansen scored 15 points including five from the free-throw line; he also had 10 steals. Silas Hecker grabbed nine rebounds and had four assists.

The Golds travelled to Kelowna on Feb. 3 and 4 to play in the tournament at Okanagan Mission Secondary.

Salmon Arm faced Sa-Hali Secondary of Kamloops in the first game of the tournament, resulting in a 71 - 38 win.

Leaders on the stat sheet included Noah Jansen with 13 rebounds and 16 points, Hecker with 20 points and Evan Smith, who scored 14 points including four three-pointers.

Coach Rob Neid described the Golds’ second game of the tournament against Rutland, as a “character win” for his team. The final score was 59-57.

The Golds led most of the game until the fourth quarter when Rutland came back to make it a close game.

“We were up eight then down eight then back up by five before finishing with a two-point win – crazy,” Neid said.

A four-point play from Alton Neid sparked the fourth-quarter comeback.

Hecker led the team with 16 points including five three-pointers, Alton Neid and Jansen finished with 10 points each and Evan Smith had 13 points. Jansen also had 10 rebounds.

The third game, against tournament hosts Okanagan Mission (OKM) ended in 62-39 loss for Salmon Arm.

Coach Neid said the Golds held the lead in the first half, but with only eight players dressed, depth and fatigue became an issue once a couple players were sitting with foul trouble in the second half.

“This was a battle of the top two teams this year in the valley and we learned that although we fared 10 points better than last time, we have a ways to go before the Valley Championships in two weeks on Feb. 17 and 18,” Neid said.

Alton Neid finished with 11 points, four assists and three steals while Daniel Wyss also had 11 including three baskets from beyond the three-point line.

“This tournament was a good measuring stick as several of the top teams in the Valley were present. We learned that we are right there with OKM who are No. 8 in the provincial rankings,” Coach Neid said.