Nelson Eagles finish fourth at Kamloops Spring Basketball Tournment
By The Nelson Daily Sports
The Nelson Eagles finished with a 2-2 record at a Spring League Basketball Tournament this past weekend in Kamloops.
The tournament attracted eight teams from Kamloops, Kelowna, Penticton, Prince George and Prince Rupert.
The Eagles opened with wins over Kelowna (58-50)and Valleyview of Kamloops (50-44) before dropping games to Kamloops Phantom (48-38) and South Kamloops (48-34).
“We started the tourney with a great win over a KMBA team — a team that beat us during the season as the KSS Owls ‘B’ team,” said Nelson coach Jeremy Phelan.
“We showed great improvement playing exceptional individual and team defense.”
Vinnie Watson had a great game, teaming up with Josh Matosevic’s conversions from long range made up a large portion of the Eagle’s 58 points.
Against Valleyview, Nelson led from start to finish.
Nelson then ran into fatigue troubles in a losing cause against Kamloops Phantom.
“The guys wanted revenge for the season loss and came out playing strong, building up a 14 points lead early on,” Phelan explained.
“However, with only seve players, the Eagles grew tired as the Phantom gained momentum.”
Phantom took their first lead with seven minutes remaining in the second half and never looked back and finished with the win which put them in the championship game Saturday evening.
The loss relegated Nelson to the consolation game against South Kamloops.
South Kamloops outlasted the tired Eagles 48-34 in the third and final game Saturday evening.
The Eagles are in action again May 9-10 in Kelowma at the KMBA Spring Tournament where they will face teams from Calgary, Edmonton, Kelowna and Kamloops.
