Coyotes Face ACAC Champs
The Okanagan Coyotes face the Lakeland Rustlers to open the nationals
Okanagan Coyotes vs. Lakeland Rustlers – Wednesday March 13, 5:00pm PST | WATCH HERE
During the PACWEST championship the Coyotes used the energy from the hometown crowd to complete a pair of upsets in order to reach their second CCAA national championship tournament in three seasons. Wednesday afternoon will be a very different story.
The Coyotes will match-up against the host and ACAC champion Lakeland Rustlers in the quarterfinal, a team that finished the season 20-0. Their offence has been good this year, but defensively is where they win their games. They held teams to 52 points a game, not allowing a team to get into a grove on course to finish undefeated. They even held the opposition to 50 points in the ACAC final, winning by 11-points.
The Rustlers are led by Player AND Rookie of the Year, guard Hineaupounamu Nuku averaging over 14 points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals a game. The Coyotes will no doubt try to defend by committee on Nuku using some of their veteran leadership like Ali Martineau and Soleil Wilding.
Defensively the Coyotes can be suffocating with their various styles of press. This could disrupt the Rustlers offence and force much needed turnovers transitioning to points the other way.
The winner of this game advances to the CCAA semi-final on Thursday.