Three of the Dauphin Clippers basketball teams were in action this past weekend with varying levels of success.
The varsity girls were in Powerview for a tournament, where they finished first, winning all three games.
Dauphin was awarded a 1-0 win over the St. Laurent/Aurele-Lemoine co-op team, which failed to arrive in time for the game on Friday.
Later on Friday, the Clippers beat the Sagkeeng Anicinabe Wolves, 69-14.
On Saturday, Dauphin defeated the Fisher Branch Cougars, 39-24, and clinched first place with a 45-13 win over the host Powerview Wild.
Clippers coach Natasha Nepinak was pleased with the team’s play on the weekend.
“(Assistant coach) Amber (Fidierchuk) and I are always expressing to the girls how important it is for them to work as a team and to be selfless. We saw a lot of assists this weekend and everyone on our team scored a basket. We were missing a couple players so we can’t wait to have a full roster at our home tournament,” she said.
Nepinak saw an improvement in the team’s play over the course of the weekend.
“Our first game it took a while for us to get going. I think the girls were still a little groggy from such a long bus ride. Once everyone started to wake up it was all gas and no brakes,” she said.
“After the first game, we all agreed that was the standard for the rest of the weekend and that we wanted the winning to continue, so they knew with only eight players they needed to push through fatigue to make that happen.”
Nepinak feels the team has improved since the start of the season.
“At the beginning of the season, everyone was still shaking the rust off. Commitment is very important, the more practices everyone attends, the more they can play together and everyone can get into a groove,” she said.
The Clippers will host the Clipper Classic this weekend, with games Friday and Saturday.
The JV girls and boys were in Brandon for the Crocus Plains Invitational Tournament, Friday and Saturday.
The Clippers girls started the event with a 52-45 loss to the Portage Collegiate Saints, dropping them to the consolation side of the bracket.
In the semifinals, Dauphin beat the Neelin Spartans, 65-38, before beating the Crocus Plains Plainsmen Grade 9 unit, 65-8, to win the consolation.
Clippers coach John Marshall noted the loss to open the tournament was against a AAAA school, whereas the Clippers are a AAA team.
“I don’t think they had lost a game all year up to this point,” he said.
“It was a close game. And when I talked to the Portage girls after, they had said it was their best game so far that they played against us. It was a very competitive game.”
The Clippers knew what they would be facing against Neelin, having played them before. And Marshall said it was important to beat another AAA team to, hopefully, hold on to their ranking.
As of Jan. 20, the Clippers were ranked second in the province behind the Linden Christian Wings.
The game against the Crocus Plains Grade 9 team gave the Clippers a chance to give every player some playing time.
“We had a chance to play our bench players. They had a chance to play a lot of the game. That was real exciting to see them play and do very well,” Marshall said.
Marshall said the team is executing its plays a lot better from the start of the season and they are communicating a lot better, as well.
“As a team, they are working for each other and all around, they are playing the game at a higher level than when they started at the beginning,” he added.
The Clippers JV boys opened their tournament with a 69-48 loss to the Virden Golden Bears and were knocked out of contention for the consolation title with a 72-39 loss to the Minnedosa Chancellors.
Dauphin beat the Crocus Plains Grade 9 team, 62-34 to finish seventh in the tournament.
