The Dauphin Clippers varsity girls basketball team won its home tournament, this weekend, going 3-0 in the process.

Dauphin opened the tournament with a 52-30 win over the Virden Golden Bears, Friday, then defeated the Steinbach Christian Flames, 57-43.

Saturday morning’s contest with the Neepawa Tigers was for first place after the Tigers also beat Virden and Steinbach.

In a close contest, the Clippers pulled away to win the tournament with a 45-36 victory.

Clippers head coach Natasha Nepinak said the team was able to overcome a short bench.

“So we knew that we were going to have to play through the fatigue. I just told them that we were on a bit of a winning streak and once we won our first game just to keep the streak going and play through the fatigue,” she said.

The Clippers originally had 12 players and one dropped out during tryouts. They lost another player for the season to injury in the first tournament of the year.

Another player was an exchange student who was only in Dauphin for the first semester and has since returned home, leaving the Clippers with just nine players.

Dauphin will be in Beausejour for a tournament this weekend.

Nepinak said she is still trying to assess everyone’s strengths and weaknesses.

“And who plays well together. We’re looking forward to zones against Swan River. That’s our goal right now, is to figure out how we’re going to beat them to extend to provincial qualifiers,” she said, adding they have never seen any of the teams they will face in Beausejour.

“So we’ll practice and keep trying to get better,” she added.

The varsity boys were in Winnipeg, taking part in a tournament hosted by Pembina Trails Collegiate.

In their opening match against the Springfield Sabres, the Clippers scored an 88-34 win to advance to the semifinals, where they fell, 80-62 to the Elmwood Giants.

The third-place game against the St. Maurice Patriots saw Dauphin come away with a 71-45 victory.

Ryder Waggoner was Player of the Game against Springfield, while Nick Hudyma was Player of the Game against both Elmwood and St. Maurice.

Clippers coach Steven Hudyma said the boys played well despite missing two key players.

“We were led by Nick, our captain, and put a great effort out there,” he added.

Hudyma is pleased with the progress the team has made since the start of the season.

“We were fighting through a few injuries. And a couple of our players couldn’t be there this weekend. That being said, they have been progressing very well,” he said.

The Clippers will host the Clipper Classic this weekend, with the first game, Friday at 2:30 p.m., when the Clippers face the Swan Valley Tigers.

Hudyma is looking forward to playing their first games at home this season. A home game against Yorkton was postponed and rescheduled to late February.

The Clippers JV girls team was in Winkler for a tournament hosted by Northlands Parkway Collegiate, where they finished in second place.

Dauphin opened with a 63-27 win over the Garden Valley Zodiaks on Friday.

On Saturday morning, they clinched first place in their pool with a 77-44 win over the Morden Thunder, which is ranked third in the province behind the Clippers.

This put Dauphin in the championship game, where they dropped a 53-36 decision to the host Nighthawks.

Clippers coach John Marshall said the team had a great tournament.

“They were very strong. It really showed how much they’ve progressed this season,” he said.

The Clippers came out slow against Garden Valley.

“But then we gradually got our legs. It’s a four-hour trip to Winkler, so I think that showed in the first half,” he said.

“In the second half, they got their legs. Better rebounding. Better movement on the ball. The press looked better.”

The Clippers knew the game against Morden was an important one, with the Thunder ranked right behind Dauphin in the top 10 rankings.

“The girls came out flying and, really, the game was never close at all. We basically dominated from first quarter to fourth quarter,” Marshall said.

The final against the Nighthawks was Dauphin’s second of the day and the host’s first after playing twice on Friday.

“I think that kind of showed. We didn’t quite have our legs. We weren’t really rebounding as well as we could. Our press wasn’t as effective as hoped for. But in saying those things, we only lost by seven. So we know that when we’re on, when our legs are there, when we’re rebounding, when our press is working, we’re a really hard team to beat,” Marshall said.

The Clippers will travel west to take part in a tournament in Yorkton, this weekend, where they will face some new competition.

The JV boys were at a tournament in Neepawa, losing their first game, 88-18 to Brandon’s Vincent Massey Vikings.

In the consolation semifinals, Dauphin lost, 70-23 to the Virden Golden Bears.

In the seventh-place game, Dauphin lost, 61-40.