In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders stomped the North Battleford Vikings 92-12 as Erica Gavel scored 20 and Ashley Kuzma 12. Kelcey Redding led North Battleford with 4. The Crusaders led 30-2 after one quarter and 38-2 at the half. …………………………………………………… Balgonie whipped the Yorkton Regional Raiders 64-44 as Virginia Chell scored 18 and Brittany Kaczmar 10. Krystal Schmidt led Yorkton with 10. Balgonie led 47-16 at the half. …………………………………………………… The Weyburn Eagles crushed Yorkton Sacred Heart 95-39 as Alesha Johnson scored 19 and Jane Pegg 19. Taylor Shymanski led Sacred Heart with 15. Weyburn led 54-19 at the half. …………………………………………………… Meadow Lake dumped Regina Johnson Wildcats 80-46 as Laura Favel-Clark scored 15. Kelsi Lyon paced Johnson with 14. Meadow Lake led 43-20 at the half. The Wildcats also included Mirela Jakupovic. …………………………………………………… The Moose Jaw Central Cyclones steamrolled Regina Martin Monarchs 85-18 as Jina Barker scored 21 and Kelsey Konihowski 13. S. Cherepuschak led Martin with 8. The Monarchs also included Jazmin Rostie, Courtney Tafelmeyer. …………………………………………………… The Moose Jaw A.E. Peacock Toilers clipped the Estevan Elecs 77-52 as Taylana Tremblay scored 15. Kelsy Lindquist led the Elecs with 16. …………………………………………………… The Swift Current Ardens annihilated the Delisle Rebels 75-19 as Lindsay Siemens scored 30 and Briana Wilms 15, along with 13 boards. Siemens also pilfered 13 balls. Jill Kennedy nabbed 9 boards. Samantha Corey and Katrina Currie each scored 5 to lead Delisle. Swift Current led 44-17 at the half. …………………………………………………… Prince Albert St. Mary stuffed the North Battleford John Paul II Crusaders 80-48 as Megan Hendous scored 22 and Shauna Juravinski 20. Janaya Barker led North Battleford with 15. Lacey Flichel and Courtney Graham each added 9. St. Mary led 44-22 at the half.
In the quarterfinals, the Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders flattened the Balgonie Greenall Griffins 75-48 as Erica Gavel scored 19, Ashley Kuzma 17 and Dalyce Emmerson 12. Delainee Behrns led Balgonie with 18. Brittany Kaczmar added 12. Carlton led 18-16, 40-27 and 61-38 at the quarters. The Griffins also included Virginia Chell, Chaelynn Eutenier, Alyssa Shivak.
The Weyburn Eagles defeated Meadow Lake 50-40 as Alesha Johnson scored 16 and Kayla Skjerdal 14. Amy Belanger paced Meadow Lake with 12. Nicole Dubray added 14. Weyburn led 29-17 at the half.
The Moose Jaw Central Cyclones dumped the Moose Jaw A.E. Peacock Toilers 103-73 as Kelsey Konihowski scored 29 and Shelby Mackey 19. Brittany Hiscock led Peacock with 18.
In the last
quarterfinal, the Swift Current Ardens defeated Prince Albert St. Mary 70-56 as
Lindsay Siemens scored 21 and Briana Wilms 16. Megan Hendous led St. Mary with
15. Ali Fjeld added 15. St. Mary’s jumped out to a 12-2 lead but the Ardens
battled back to rally within 13-11 after one quarter. Prince Albert countered
to take a 35-27 lead at the half. The Ardens came out strong in the third
quarter and outscored PA 25-8 to lead with a score of 52-43 after the frame. “Well
we knew going into this game that they matched up to us very well and we were
expecting it to be a battle so it wasn’t a surprise,” said coach Rod Siemens. “We
never felt that we couldn’t come back and I think that it again shows our
character to come back after being down early and chip away. The second half
was just about digging down a little bit deeper and really getting the job done.”
The Ardens trailed 35-27 at halftime but outscored St. Mary 25-8 in the third
quarter to take control of the game on their way to their 21st consecutive home
win. “It was a fast-paced game especially that first half. I think our game plan
going in was that they do like to make the long pass and I think that some of
our speed, when you have girls like Tessa (Andres), Jane (Kennedy), and Lindsay
being able to anticipate some passes, I think that certainly was the turning
point,” said Siemens, adding that grade 12 post Katie Avram was instrumental in
the comeback win as she chipped in 15 points. “She really has developed as the
year has gone on. She had a tremendous game today. The one play that sticks out
in my mind was they basically had a breakaway with their fastest player and
Katie gets back, interrupts the layup, and then we score two points shortly
after that. She is a hard-working player and has improved so much as the year
has gone on and is a big part of our success this year.” Avram’s role was even
more important as the Ardens were also without starting post Nikki Francouer
due to a knee injury. “There was a possibility that she could have played today
and we could have probably given it a try, I know she wanted to be in there really
bad. But we wanted her healthy for next week so the plan is that she will
practice this week and be ready to go for the weekend,” said Siemens.
In the semis, the Weyburn Eagles outlasted
the Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders 64-57 as Alesha Johnson scored 31. Erica
Gavel led Carlton with 33. Weyburn jumped out to an early 12-0 lead and Carlton
couldn’t erase the deficit, getting as close as five. “We didn’t rebound the
ball,” said Carlton point guard Erica Gavel. Number 13, Alesha Johnson, on
their team killed us on the boards and that was the difference between winning
and losing.”
In the other semi, the Swift Current
Ardens nipped the Moose Jaw Central Cyclones 64-61 as Lindsay Siemens scored
27. Jina Barker led Central with 18. The Ardens had twice lost to the Cyclones during
the season. Moose Jaw led 16-13 after one quarter by putting the Ardens on
their heels with their fast break. Swift Current adjusted by switching to a
smaller lineup and zone defence that baffled the Cyclones. The results
were steals and easy layups for the Ardens as they took a 40-33 lead into the
half. Moose Jaw started the second half on fire by going on an 11-0
run. Swift Current did not score their first bucket until four minutes
into the quarter. With the score close throughout the quarter, the Ardens
leaned on the leadership and aggressive play of grade 11 guard Lindsay
Siemens. Her drives to the basket resulted in several open layups and open
shots for her team-mates. Heading into the fourth quarter both teams were tied
at 51. In the fourth quarter the Ardens relied on the strength of their zone
defence and rebounding by 6’3” Center Briana Wilms. But the Cyclones continued
to chip away at the lead until tying the contest at 61 with 53 seconds to play. The
Ardens entrusted their season to Siemens, and she did not disappoint by driving
right down the center of the lane to score the winning basket with 27 seconds
on the clock. Wilms, who dominated the boards at both ends, said “Lindsay
has been so dedicated throughout the season. She works so hard in practice
and in games, and it was great to see her play so well in such a big game.” Wilms
also said that their focus and desire were high to avenge to the two regular
season losses to Carlton.
In the bronze medal match, the Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders defeated the Moose Jaw Central Cyclones 58-44 as Erica Gavel scored 24. Kelsey Konihowski led Central with 9. “I think we came back real well,” said Dalyce Emmerson, a Grade 10 post for the Crusaders. “We were upset to lose to Weyburn. It was a close game and stuff, but even after losing to them, I think we still had a strong end to end our season.” Crusaders coach Ken Morrison said “when you lost the first one, the second one is always tough. It’s all up to the girls; how hard they want to play, whether they want to finish third or fourth. We did a good job of regrouping.” Gavel said a gold “is all I wished for since Grade 9. We’ve had a core of girls together since Grade 9. This is what we’ve all grown up for, but bronze is good. We didn’t want to come in with our heads down. We wanted to battle right until the end.”
In the final, the Swift Current Ardens dethroned the Weyburn Eagles 39-33 as Katie Avram scored 8 and nabbed 12 boards. Kayla Skjerdal led Weyburn with 12. The Ardens captured their second provincial title in three years. The defensive contest saw both teams struggle to knock down shots but the Ardens were able to lead 7-5, 19-15, and 28-25 after the first, second, and third quarters. Down the stretch the Ardens’ zone defense proved too difficult and they managed to score a few key baskets including a Lindsay Siemens’ three-pointer with 1:13 left to seal the victory. “You always have that dream and that hope at the beginning of the year and that is a goal that you work towards,” said coach Rod Siemens. “But it always seems a long ways away. I guess it is nice when you put in the effort to get here and are rewarded with a provincial championship.” The game was the lowest scoring performance by a winning team since 1986 when Weyburn defeated Meadow Lake 38-35 and the lowest point total for a losing team since 1982 when Meadow Lake managed only 33 points in a loss to Moose Jaw Vanier. “It was one of the games where it was all coming from the effort from the gut,” said Siemens. “It was a scrappy game that really was determined by defense. I guess the old saying that ‘championships are won with good defense’ was proven today. It was just a great team effort on the defensive end to only allow 33 points in a provincial final.” Katie Avram, who hit a bucket to give the Ardens a 34-31 lead, said “it is a lot more real today because I definitely got more playing time (than in 2007). Even though I don’t think that I played my best game the team really stepped it up and really did what needed to be done and got the ball to who could finish with it. I think that we all knew that it was a goal but whether it was real at the time maybe not. But we definitely had in mind all year that this was where we wanted to finish.” Briana Wilms, who nabbed 10 boards, said “it is a huge accomplishment and it is great to go out with a grade 12 provincial win. At the beginning of the year we all kind of felt that it was a new team and we weren’t really sure exactly how we were going to do or even if we were going to make it back to Hoopla. As the season progressed, we worked hard and the dedication and commitment at practice, we all showed up and practiced hard and it showed in the games. We had played them before so we knew what their strategies were. We came up with a game plan and we joke in the locker room about scoring more baskets than the other team. We knew that defense was our game and transitions off of that. We did have it a lot during this game but we played strong and played hard.” Grade 11 wing Tessa Andres led the Ardens with 10 points in the final, while Lindsay Siemens had nine steals. The Ardens finished 27-8 on the season.
The bronze medalist Prince Albert Carlton Crusaders: Erica Gavel; Ashley Kuzma; Dalyce Emmerson; Racquel Marshall; coach Ken Morrison; coach Jenn Ferguson
The silver medalist Weyburn Eagles: Kayla Skjerdal; Alesha Johnson; Jane Pegg; coach Wanda Pegg
The gold medalist Swift Current Ardens: Katie Avram; Lindsay Siemens; Briana Wilms; Tessa Andres; Jane Kennedy; Jill Kennedy; Nikki Francouer; Amy Pepin; Paige Patey; coach Rod Siemens