GREENWICH - The Horton JV boys’ basketball team is off to a strong start.
The team recently went undefeated in four games at the Clary Laing Christmas Classic tournament hosted at West Kings District High School in mid-December.
Six division two teams and two JV teams participated in the tournament, with Horton’s JV squad facing Cobequid Educational Centre (CEC) in a nail-biter final decided by three points.
Horton JV head coach Kevin Hayes traces the gold-medal win back to dependable defence.
“They played strong pressure defence and they’re very athletic,” he said, noting that CEC offered some solid competition.
“Their population is twice the size of ours, so they have a lot more to pick from.”
Jack Hayes was selected as the tournament MVP for Horton.
Hayes said many of the players he coaches on Horton’s JV team are skilled enough to play for the varsity team, but play multiple sports and prefer the flexibility available at the JV level.
“We do have a couple of young guys (Grade 9s) that will be serious contributors to the varsity team in the future,” he said.
As of Dec. 20, the team had won one varsity tournament and advanced to the finals in another. They had 10 wins to three losses, and a league record of 1-0.
Hayes expects to see the team continue to work hard in hopes of ultimately advancing to provincials as regional champions.
“They’re a good team,” he said.
