As the regular season nears its end, the Salmon Secondary Golds Senior Boys’ basketball team continues to improve, compete and prepare for the Okanagan Valley Championships that take place at SAS on Feb. 23 and 24.
Prior to competing in the Sa-Hali Sr. Boys’ Tournament in Kamloops this past weekend, the Golds hosted the Mount Boucherie Bears in league play last Tuesday night. With a balanced scoring attack, the Golds downed MBS 78-42 and were led by Silas Hecker with 16 points and Gavin Limber who added 12 points of his own.
To begin their weekend in Kamloops, the young Golds took on a much improved and competitive Seaton team from Vernon. In the end, SAS defeated the Sonics 72-58. Evan Smith led the team with 17 points, and both Limber and Daniel Wyss added 12 points of their own. Limber was named player of the game for the Golds.
In the Golds’ second game of the tournament, they faced the Westsyde Wundas from Kamloops, who are ranked second in the province in Boys’ AA.
The game began with tough and tenacious defense from both squads; neither could generate much offense and so the first quarter ended with the Golds down 9-6; however, the Wundas started the second quarter with a 22-0 run as the Golds dug themselves a deep hole. Salmon Arm played better in the second half; they were able to find some offensive rhythm and outscore Westsyde by five points in the last two quarters. Disappointingly, the better performance in the second half couldn’t make up for the Golds’ second-quarter lapse, leaving the final score in the semi-final game 63-42. Alton Neid led the Golds with a double-double in the loss with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Noah Vieira-Shay was named player-of-the-game for the Golds.
In the Golds’ final game of the tournament, they faced a highly skilled and talented Sa-Hali team in an overtime thriller.
Tied at the end of regulation 73-73, the Golds dominated the overtime period and came out on top with a win, defeating the host school 85-77. Vieira-Shay led all scorers with 25 points. Neid was on fire under the hoop sleuthing out 11 rebounds and also scoring 20 points for his second double-double of the tournament. Noah Jansen added 13 points, Hecker had 12 points and Limber chipped in 10 points of his own in the Golds’ win. Vieira-Shay was once again named the Golds’ player-of-the-game and Neid was named the Golds’ MVP of the tournament.