It was a successful start to the season for the Dauphin Clippers JV girls basketball team.

Hosting the Clipper Classic this past weekend, the local JV girls won the tournament, going 3-0 in the process.

The tournament began with a 70-14 win over the rival Swan Valley Tigers, Friday afternoon.

On Saturday, the Clippers defeated the Neelin Spartans, 52-30 before clinching the tournament title with a 55-50 win over the Crocus Plains Plainsmen.

It was Dauphin’s second tournament of the season after finishing second at a tournament in Winnipeg hosted by Linden Christian, losing to the host Wings in the final.

“We had a great game against them. For 3-1/2 quarters we were right with them and then we ran out of gas in the last part of the last quarter,” said Clippers coach John Marshall.

“We came up a bit short, but it was a great game and they’re a really good team.”

Winning their home tournament, Marshall said, establishes the fact that the Clippers are also a really good team at this point.

“And it’s nice to win in your backyard and have some fans out to see that. I know the girls were quite excited to grab that tournament,” he said.

It was important to start the season well as Dauphin will host the JV girls provincials in March.

“We want to establish ourselves as a really good team, hopefully winning tournaments or at least being finalists, so that we get a good seeding at provincials,” Marshall said, adding he was proud of the girls, who battled hard all weekend.

The final against Crocus Plains was tough, he added, but the defence held strong and the team never gave up.

The JV boys took part in the Nighthawk Invitational, hosted by Northlands Parkway Collegiate in Winkler.

In round-robin play, the Clippers lost to the Garden Valley Zodiaks, 55-28, then fell 66-23 to the Léo-Rémillard Renards of Winnipeg.

In the fifth-place game, Dauphin defeated the host Nighthawks, 49-46.

It was the first tournament of the year for the boys, who battled hard in all three games and improved with each game, according to coach Josh Marshall.

“A lot of these kids missed an entire year of organized basketball. So there’s lots to work on right now and you can see that with every game,” he said.

“Defensively and energy-wise, they give their all. The fine-tuning up front, that’s something we need to work on all year, but we’ve got lots of time for that.”

After struggling through the first two games, winning the third game will provide a boost to the team’s confidence.

“The third game, we actually started to look like we were putting stuff together and we came away with the win. It feels pretty good as a coach to see small improvements after just three games,” Marshall said.

“Winning the last game is way more important for them than winning the first game and losing the next two. Then it just feels like maybe that first game was more fluky, whereas winning the third game was just reps. They got shots blocked the first two games, third game they finally started falling. It’s awesome to see.”

The Clippers will host the Clipper Classic, this weekend. Marshall is looking forward to seeing his team continue to improve.

“There’s lots to improve on. It’s good to see kids who have room for improvement. With these kids, when you’re teaching them stuff, you can actually see them make those improvements in game and in practice. It’s pretty exciting,” he said.

The Clippers varsity boys were in Sanford to take part in the 21st Big Cat Classic, where they opened the tournament with a 93-63 win over the Westgate Wings.

Dauphin then defeated the Stonewall Rams, 94-84 before falling in the final, 71-57 to the Linden Christian Wings.

It was the second tournament of the year for the Clippers, after third at a tournament in Brandon, hosted by the Neelin Spartans.

Coach Steve Hudyma said the team played solid throughout tournament, but the offence dried up a little in the final against Linden Christian.

Hudyma is pleased with the start to the season.

“We had a very good start to the season. After every tournament and after every couple of practices, the boys are learning something new and adding to our game. So we’re excited for this weekend when we’re in Winkler,” he said.