Consistency, hard work, and dedication. Those three traits have led to a great season for the Dauphin Clippers varsity boys' basketball team.
The team that Steve Hudyma leads has continued to put together strong performances every time they hit the court as the provincial championships continue to near.
Their first tournament of the year saw the team finish sixth out of 16 teams at the Brandon Sun Invitational and along the journey, Dauphin was a consolation championship in Sanford, to go along with a second-place finish in Winkler, and they also put together a strong weekend at Daniel Mac in Winnipeg earlier this month.
Steve says he's proud of how the team continues to come out to play.
"Our season is going very well, we continue to get better and improve after every tournament that we attend," said Hudyma. "As a coach, that's what you're always looking for."
In their most recent action, Dauphin was in a class of their own. The team hosted their home tournament over the weekend at the DRCSS and they steamrolled their competition winning all four games. In their opener, Dauphin downed Swan Valley, 77-60. Nick Hudyma had 32 points, six steals and five assists. Lucas Wood recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Gabe Calso had 12 points and three steals.
Dauphin then beat Neepawa, 76-66 with Ronin Mouck grabbing 11 rebounds and adding 16 points. Josiah Seale had 17 points and 10 rebounds while he was named the player of the game. Going up against Portage in their next game, Nick Hudyma was named player of the game after scoring 33 points in a 95-55 win. Dauphin then beat Neepawa, 83-68, to win the championship. Mouck was named player of the game thanks to his eight-point, 10 rebound performance.
After not playing in the team's opener against Swan Valley because of a lower-body injury, Ronin put together a brilliant weekend.
"Ronin is an integral part of our team, he does so many things that don't show up on the stat sheet at times," said Hudyma. "He has also come up clutch so many times, when we need a bucket, he can make it happen. He helps our team succeed so tremendously."
Hudyma also talked about winning a championship on the team's home court.
"It felt really good, I know the boys were really happy to have the home town crowd cheering for them," offered Hudyma. "With four convincing wins, the boys all stepped up and played very well, it was a great weekend for us."
Next up for Dauphin is a zone championship game on Tuesday against Swan Valley. These two teams played on Tuesday and while the Clippers were without Ronin, they still secured a 17 point victory. Mouck will be back in the lineup on Tuesday and if Dauphin is able to win the game, they will advance to a provincial championship pre-qualifier.
"Our goal since day one has been to make the provincial championships, that is what we are and have been pushing for since the start of the season," ended Hudyma. "There is still plenty of work to do and I know the guys are all geared up and ready for the stretch push."
The Clippers have certainly embraced the 'WE' instead of 'ME' mentality and you can see them in action on Tuesday night.
