Virden Bear guard Finn Abel lights up scoreboard

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This article was published 20/01/2024 (608 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Choose how you’d like to defend the Virden Bears wisely. Stop one way and Finn Abel will find another.

The Virden Bears guard dropped a cool 31 points in an 87-43 win over the Neepawa Tigers to open the Neelin Invitational Tournament at Crocus Plains on Friday.

Neelin’s using the Elam Ending for every game, meaning when the clock drops below 4:00 in the fourth quarter, it stops running and the teams play to a target score of nine higher than the leading team’s total. It was taking too long for Abel, so he checked back in and drilled two three-pointers, the second one about 28 feet long to ice the game.

“There’s people watching, there’s no point (in dragging it out),” Abel said. “Let’s just get the game over with and get out of here.”

Virden had the late game yet to play on Friday evening and two more today, so it made sense to put the finishing touch on a dominant win.

After all, the Bears have bigger obstacles to climb this season. They moved up to AAA from AA after reaching the AA provincial final last season. While it’s tougher to end the season on top of the higher category — Virden is currently ranked No. 10 — Abel feels it’s made his senior season better.

“I like AAA. I felt when we played AA there were only three teams that were competitive and I felt could play at the next level, so even at provincials some of our games weren’t that competitive,” Abel said. “Now, playing AAA teams that might not even make provincials, they’re still competitive games.

“As a team, we’re just trying to get better every game and keep pushing.”

The Bears will go as far as Abel’s able to take them. He started the season with a 45-point effort to come back and beat the Portage Trojans 83-78 at the Brandon Sun Spartan Invitational, putting the province on notice.

He’s a pure shooter, but likes to move the ball around and create shots for his teammates first. The five-foot-11 guard also isn’t scared to navigate through big bodies in the key and get to the rim.

“He just knows where to put the ball and everything kind of revolves around him,” said Bears coach Cody McPhee.

“He’s a real footwork guy, too. his footwork is excellent and he creates shots for himself. He’s ready to catch and shoot and he’s ready to draw something up for someone else.”

Abel said his dad was a good player in his day and taught him the fundamentals early. He also tries to play as much as possible.

“I think that helps my game. There’s guys that can dribble around cones really well, but when it comes to playing basketball, that’s where we really make improvements,” Abel said.

The Bears joined the Brandon High School Basketball League for the regular season to face tougher competition in the Neelin Spartans, Vincent Massey Vikings and Crocus Plainsmen. They’ve thrown some different looks at Abel, so he knows he can’t just bring the ball up the floor and score by himself.

“Even when you score a lot of points, you still gotta let the game come to you,” Abel said. “Some games we play teams where I’m getting double-teamed the whole game, those games I’m not going to score a lot of points because the shots just aren’t going to come that easy. It’s important to move the ball, make plays and let it come to you.

“You don’t need to force shots, let it come to you. But when you’re open, you gotta take that shot.”

The NIT continues with varsity boys and girls games at Crocus, Neelin and Massey today.

All the matchups have been set and there is no final.

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