Halfway through the season, the Duchess Park Condors are starting to play the style of basketball head coach Dave Holmes has been wanting to see.
The Duchess Park senior boys claimed gold at the Maroons Corporate Classic in Vernon on the weekend, and they did it by utilizing all their weapons. In Saturday's final, the Condors overwhelmed the host Clarence Fulton Maroons 78-48.
"The team finally started to play not only tougher and harder, but they were also playing smarter," Holmes said. "They were taking the time to see each other and make themselves available for one another. They trusted each other by giving the ball and creating a lot of very good scoring opportunities."
In their tournament opener, the Condors fought off some bus legs and beat Penticton 67-64 in overtime. Then, Duchess lost 78-75 to South Okanagan of Oliver and downed Westsyde of Kamloops 60-50. The Condors placed first on their side of the draw, which earned them a berth in the final.
In the win against a younger Clarence Fulton squad, Condors guard Montell Lindgren paced his team with 20 points, while forward Nathanial Pawluk added 15. Lindgren was later chosen as the tournament's most valuable player and teammate Eric Kidwell was picked as an all-star.
The Condors have now won three tournaments this season. In the provincial double-A rankings, they are currently eighth.
The Condors have this weekend off because of exams. The following weekend, they'll be on the court at Sa-Hali secondary in Kamloops.
