The Osoyoos Secondary School Rattlers (black jerseys) battled the Southern Okanagan Secondary School Hornets in a senior boys basketball exhibition game this past weekend in Oliver. The Hornets and Rattlers are both preparing for playoff action. The Hornets won this game 82-75. Dale Cory Photo.
The Osoyoos Rattlers have earned themselves a place in the Valley basketball playoffs after defeating their Keremeos archrivals 79-72 at Similkameen Elementary Secondary School last Wednesday.
“It was a close game the whole time,” said Coach Casey Brouwer. “We had only seven players due to a juniors game at the same time.”
The Osoyoos senior boys’ Rattlers team includes three junior players in order to bring the team’s number of players to 10.
The Rattlers also defeated Keremeos in December. The two wins guarantee the Osoyoos team a spot in the Valley playoffs, which include teams from the Okanagan and beyond.
Last week’s victory follows a difficult tournament on the weekend of Jan. 17-18 in Salmon Arm. The Rattlers finished seventh among 12 teams after a dramatic comeback in their second game.
The Osoyoos team was one of only two single A teams in the tournament. They faced AAA and AAAA teams from much larger schools.
In the first game against Okanagan Mission Secondary School from Kelowna, the Rattlers lost 89-73.
It looked at first like they would lose their second game too against Langley Christian School, a AAA school.
“At one point in the game we were down by 24 points,” said Brouwer. “At the half, it was 16 points. I gave the team a convincing speech of how we needed to control the tempo of the game and start taking more shots. The guys came out in the second half like a whole new team.”
The Rattlers pressed Langley, adding more pressure on their ball handlers and causing some turnovers that worked in the Rattlers’ favour.
The game ended in a 95-89 win for Osoyoos.
Aman Rai scored 42 points in that game with 24 of those in the fourth quarter.
In the final game against Kelowna Senior Secondary B team, the Rattlers were unable to repeat the magic. They lost 88-68.
Gurshan Sandhu, Benson Cheng and Rai were named players of the games.
“The team continues to grow and we are excited for what’s ahead,” said Brouwer.
This past weekend, the Rattlers battled South Okanagan Secondary School in an exhibition game.
Even thought it was an exhibition game, the Hornets and Rattlers still possess a bitter rivalry that was quite evident when the two high schools met on the basketball court Jan. 24.
The game reminded those in attendance of the days when the Hornets and Rattlers met to decide the recipient of the Barisoff Cup, a yearly battle between the two school rivals which ended nearly 10 years ago.
The hard-fought contest proved to be an important stepping stone as both schools prepare for a provincial playoff run.
SOSS took an early and sizeable first quarter lead, and led by as much as 15 points early in the game.
Osoyoos cut the lead to a single point later in the game, but Oliver took charge, held a 15-point lead late in the game, and cruised to an 82-75 victory.
“Osoyoos came prepared and made life tough for the Hornets as we could never extend the lead past 15,” said SOSS head coach Mo Basso. “The feisty Rattlers kept chipping back into the game with solid defence and deft shooting.”
The Hornets were led by Gurshan Dhaliwal, Blake Miller Yuckin and Raj Bahniwal, who all had 15 points. Anmol Mailhi tallied 14 point followed by Austin Basso with nine.
Aman Rai had a game-high 32 points for the Rattlers.
“It was a good game. We were down 17-12 after one quarter, were tied at 27 at halftime, and actually out-scored SOSS in the final quarter,” said Brouwer. “I’m very proud of how we handled ourselves. We’ve been developing a solid defensive set up and communication on the floor, and have had a successful season.”
OSS is now preparing for a playoff run, with Single A playdowns set for Feb. 26-28 in Vernon.
The Rattlers were ranked 10th in the province a couple weeks back, and were listed as an Honourable Mention last week, sitting just outside the Top Ten.
Brouwer expects the Rattlers to move up to seventh or eights when the next rankings are released.
“We are headed to Kelowna Christian School Feb. 13-14 for a tournament,” added Brouwer. “The tournament will feature most of the single A teams in our league. It will be a good test for us.”
The Hornets took over first place in the South Central Zone standings with a win over Maggie last week.
SOSS now stands 4-1 in league play and 16-12 overall, with 11 of their 12 losses coming against highly ranked AA and AAAA teams, and American teams.
“We are progressing well as they hope to make a run to the provincials,” summarized Basso.
The Hornets next home game is Thursday, Jan. 29 at SOSS versus Keremeos.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
