Honestly, the Bears were expect to defeat Strathmore for the zone title in rugby, but just how much separated the play of the two teams could not be truly appreciated until the match.

The Bears sunk their teeth deep into the Spartans earlier in the zone final, June 1, and didn't let go. Only a wayward pass deep in their zone late in the game prevented a shut out in the 84-5 slaughter.

Bears coach Karl Bauer says he was confident in his team, formed of a combination of Bow Valley High and Cochrane High athletes. Still, he wasn't sure if they would continue their scoring frenzy after they started subbing in their younger players at the half.

"I figured when we put in a lot of our juniors we might slow down a bit," says Bauer. "We started to put them in at the half and it never really slowed down. I think we scored more in the second half than we did in the first."

Despite the solid season and the pile of wins notched, the team continues to refine their play in pursuit of the ultimate goal of winning the tier 2 provincial title. The results of these efforts showed in the zone final, says Bauer.

"They were passing slower but they were able to move it around the field quicker," says Bauer. "They had fewer dropped balls, fewer errors, and they were just more effective. That's been our focus for the last week or so."

Now comes the tough part of keeping that form for the provincials, being hosted by Strathmore, June 9-10.

"Now we have a hard week where we try to keep the ego under control and polish a couple of little issues."

The Bears expect to play a minimum of three games in Strathmore, perhaps more, but that all depends upon how many zones send teams.