The Howe Sound Sounders senior boys basketball team came up a little short in its quest for first overall in the North Shore region.

The club took on Collingwood Secondary on Thursday (Feb. 7) and fell 73-62.

“Collingwood is a deeper team than us and they were fresher at the end,” said Sounders head coach Ron Roberts. “As we tired they got good looks and made the shots that sealed our fate. All credit to them and their coaching staff.”

The Sounders fell behind 18-15 after the opening quarter and a combination of turnovers, good defending by Collingwood and poor shot selection by Howe Sound led to the deficit increasing to 43-29 at the half.

“Collingwood is the first team we have seen this year that didn’t allow us to get the looks we wanted,” Roberts said. “Their pressure man-to-man defence is the best we’ve seen.”

Howe Sound cut the lead to as low as eight, but couldn’t make up the difference and lost by 11. Avi Arellano and Randeep Grewal had 15 points apiece, with Tarn Brar grabbing a team-high eight rebounds.

The Sounders also travelled to Elphinstone Secondary on Tuesday (Feb. 5) and won a barn burner 76-72 over the Cougars.

“Best game of the season so far,” Roberts said. “We started the game in man-to-man defence because we match up well with them and it went down to the wire with us making a couple pressure free throws down the stretch.”

Grewal led the way with 22 points, with Brar picking up a team-high 12 rebounds in the win. The Sounders will next participate in the Howe Sound Zone tournament starting today (Feb. 14). Roberts said the Sounders will be ranked either second or third in the elimination tournament at Collingwood.

For more details on the tournament, visit www.bcboysbasketball.com.