Win or go home

March has come in like a lion, and so have all the time-worn cliches. 

The Rustlers men's basketball team is in Medicine Hat for the three-day Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference basketball championship, which starts Thursday afternoon. 

"It's that time of year, win or go home," Rustlers head coach Sheray Thomas said. "It's the third season. (It doesn't) really matter if you've finished fourth or finished second (in the conference)." 

And that is true statement, to a certain extent, because it hasn't mattered where the Rustlers have finished in the conference standings the last two years as the club has disappeared early in the eight-team tournament, losing early both times. 

Last year, they dropped the opener to the Red Deer College Kings and were relegated to the consolation round. 

They went on to drop the Olds College Broncos before beating the Grande Prairie Wolves in the fifth-place game. 

The previous season they lost to the Lethbridge College Kodiaks , to open the tourney, and weren't heard from again. 

And the first-round opponent this year isn't a pushover, either. There are no free passes and the second-place SAIT Trojans qualify as such. "(They) are a tough matchup," Thomas said of the 15-6 Trojans. "They have a good big man and four or five guards that can play. They're scrappy and a competitive team. If we can slow them down in transition and play a half-court defence, execute on offence, we have a good chance." 

"It's evenly matched and it should be a tough matchup," Rustlers guard Terrell Murdaugh added, while noting he's got some extra incentive. "I used to go (to SAIT) so there's a chip on my shoulder. I want to beat them. I want to show them I've improved and I'm playing for a good team." 

The Rustlers get the tournament started Thursday afternoon with a 1 pm tip-time. When Murdaugh went down in mid-January with a couple of injuries, second semester pick-up Jonathan Sappleton stepped in and filled the void the guard left in the lineup. But it wasn't until the final series of the regular season the two were on the court at the same time. They've spent more time together practicing than playing together. 

That shouldn't be a problem, according to Sappleton. "We know we'll be on the court together so we just want to make sure we're on the same page," Sappleton said. "The practice time, and the week off, was crucial for us, in particular, to really get going. We're looking forward to the opportunity and we're looking forward to going out there and showing what we can do." 

Sappleton averaged 17 points a game in 12 games played and Murdaugh was good for 13 points a game in 17 games played. 

"I think they can be a force if they can get it together," Thomas added. "They both can play the point position, they both can play the wing." 

"The sky is the limit (for us)," Sappleton added. "We know as point guards, it's our duty to pick our spots and know when to get our teammates involved and when to be aggressive. Normally, if we're both on, I think we're the best duo in this league." 

The Rustlers have shown flashes of a team with potential oozing out of every pore but their biggest enemy is the one in the mirror. Even a couple of coaches in the north have commented the green-and-white have the best athleticism in the north. 

"If we play with (smarts) and everybody is clicking we're a scary team but we haven't (consistently) done that," Thomas said. "We've had glimpses of it (all year). I think we have another level and we have to prove it to ourselves and then go prove it to everybody else." 

"We know this season, for the most part, has been (on and off like) a light switch," Sappleton added. "This is the time to max (out) and and that's been on our minds. Everybody is keyed in knowing what they had to do."

Gordon Anderson
The Lloydminster Source
www.lloydminstersource.com