If only the offence came as easily as defence.
The EMCS Wolverines placed sixth in their own senior boys basketball tournament last weekend, losing two games and winning one. But those losses were, oh, so close.
The Wolverines dropped their first contest to Mt. Doug 62-59 in a game that came down to the final seconds.
The EMCS squad started slowly and at one point was playing against a 23-point deficit. The Wolverines bounced back in the second and third quarters, but stalled again in the fourth.
"We lost focus in the end," said head coach Alex Wright.
The Wolverines bounced back in the second game with a convincing 66-53 win over Gulf Islands. Wright played his bench for most of the game as the Wolverines played a much weaker squad.
The final game of the tournament saw EMCS drop a 55-51 decision to Vic High. Again, the Wolverines played well with a short bench, with only seven players in the lineup, including three starters.
Wright said the Victoria side had one talented player and it came down to stopping him. The teams were a point apart with 30 seconds remaining.
"I think we did an admirable job of keeping together and executing well," he said.
One thing Wright knows after the weekend tournament and two regular season games: the Wolverines need to create more offence.
"We're in the right frame of mind on where we are defensively. We just need to start putting points on the board," he said.
In the new year, Wright expects to have a full roster for regular season and tournament games and will address the offensive production.
"Defensively we're in a good place – improving every game and holding teams to respectable scores," Wright said.
"We just need to find a way to get the ball in the basket more. And that's mostly on me as a coach to find ways to get my guys the ball in the best possible position."
The Wolverines will have plenty of opportunity to showcase their offensive prowess in the new year with a home game against Esquimalt on Jan. 3 followed by the much-anticipated Port Alberni Totem tournament on Jan. 6 and 7.