In the opening round, held in Milk River: …………………………………………………… The Calgary Christian Cougars defeated the Edmonton Christian Lions 60-49. The Lions included Jean Nicolai. …………………………………………………… The Three Hills Royals defeated the Fort Saskatchewan Stingers 57-43. …………………………………………………… The 11th-seeded Peace River Nomads nipped the 6th-seeded Lethbridge Immanuel Christian Eagles 55-51 as Ashley Shipholt scored 18 and Julie Bliss 16. The Eagles led 28-23 at the half. Tiffany Stromsmoe paced the Eagles with 11. Whitney Procee added 9. The Eagles also included Samantha Procee, Beth Moerman, Shelly Slomp. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Milk River Erle Rivers Novas clipped the 7th-seeded Sundre Scorpions 73-52 as Sara Johansen scored 15, Ann-Marie Oswald 13, Lisa Earl 11 and Jocelyn Rawleigh 11. Katie Denchar led the Scorpions with 24. The Scorpions also included Jessica Hayes.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Bow Island Senator Gershaw Gators whipped the Calgary Christian Cougars 65-35 as Joelle Schellenberg scored 16, Candace Thompson 14 and Erin Schaufele 11. Lindsay Visser led the Cougars with 13.
The Three Hills Royals upset the Sedgewick Central Rams 62-61. The Rams included Jen Taralson.
The 11th-seeded Peace River Nomads knocked off the 3rd-seeded Bawlf Wildcats 50-41. The Wildcats included Kristen McGarroll.
In the last quarterfinal, the 10th-seeded Milk River Erle Rivers Novas stunned the 2nd-seeded Vegreville St. Mary’s Saints 61-59 as Julie Bogle scored 19, Jocelyn Rawleigh 11, Denise Doenz 9 and Lisa Earl 9. Kati Varga led the Saints with 19.
In the semis, the top-seeded Bow Island Senator Gershaw Gators defeated the Three Hills Royals 76-54 as Candace Thompson scored 28, Joelle Schellenberg 17 and Morgan Schmidt 17.
In the other semi, the 10th-seeded Milk River Erle Rivers Novas defeated the 11th-seeded Peace River Nomads 63-45 as Lindsay McTaggart scored 15 and Sara Johansen 15.
In the bronze medal match, the Three Hills Royals defeated the Peace River Nomads 70-38 as Robin Braconnier scored 25 and Courtney Mason 18. Ashley Schiphott led the Nomads with 15.
In the final, the top-seeded Bow Island Senator Gershaw Gators crushed the Milk River Erle Rivers Comets 57-29 as Candace Thompson scored 30, Morgan Schmidt 8 and Haley Ell 7. The Gators led 23-10 at the half. Julie Bogle led the Novas with 8. “In the second half I think we relaxed a little more,” Gators coach Maurey Salmon told the Medicine Hat News. “With our experience we finally just took control. Once we got up, we started playing our own game again.” It marked the fourth time the Gators had beaten the Comets during the season. “A lot of the girls were tight and weren’t their normal selves,” said Salmon. “Candace just sort of took over.” It marked the Gators fourth crown in six seasons. “I think they were pretty relieved to finally get it,” said Salmon. “This one’s way different because the ones we had before, when we were supposed to win or when we had a chance to win, we actually went in and we won. We had a real good chance at winning last year and to not … so this one, it just makes it so much better. I’ll tell you, the last two or three weeks all that’s been on our minds was trying to stay healthy” because a flu bug was running through the team. But “I had such a deep team this year that I didn’t think it was going to really hurt us. But if we had lost somebody like Candace again it might have slowed us down quite a bit.” The Gators finished (34-5) on the campaign.
The bronze medalist Three Hills Royals:
The silver medalist Milk River Erle Rivers Novas: Denise Doenz; Lisa Earl; Julie Bogle; Lindsay McTaggert; Sara Johansen; Lisa McTaggert; Jocelyn Rawleigh;
The gold medalist Bow Island Senator Gershaw Gators: Erin Schaufele; Joelle Schellenberg; Annalise Hopkins; Candace Thompson; Morgan Schmidt; Janelle Wiens; Amanda Hirch; coach Maurey Salmon