In the opening round, the Milk River Erle Rivers Novas thrashed the Lacombe Central Alberta Christian Knights 79-34. Erle Rivers jumped to an early 10-point lead, and maintained it throughout the first half, after which they led 37-24. Erle Rivers clamped down defensively and extended the lead early in the second half, but the home town team maintained intense effort throughout. Sarah Johansen led the Novas with 19. Lindsey McTaggert added 15. Karyn Zuidhof paced the Knights with 10. Jessica Zuidhof added 8. The Knights also included Karen VandeGlind, Ingrid Kleinlugtenbeld, Jacquelyn Eggink. “We’re not super strong, so we’re not expecting a lot,” Knights coach Terry Vandenborn told the Red Deer Advocate. “I was happy with our play. The girls gave it all they had and for the first half stayed with a very good team.” …………………………………………………… The Edmonton Christian Lions defeated the Condor David Thompson Voyageurs 71-60. Edmonton Christian and David Thompson battled back and forth in the first half, with both squads pressing full court. Edmonton Christian led 33-28 at the break. The Lions extended their lead to 15 in the second half and held on for the win. Leanne Monsma led Edmonton Christian with 20, included four shots in the paint down the stretch. Jean Nicolai and Karin Buisman each added 14. Jamie Vos led David Thompson with 24. Tammy Hope added 13, Shelley Smith 9 and Kassie Pritchard 8. Voyageurs coach Steve Oscar said a 31-10 first half deficit proved too daunting. “The girls had a valiant effort to come back but we just put ourselves into too deep of a hole. … We didn’t do the job defensively when it counted.” …………………………………………………… The Taber St. Mary’s Auroras dumped the Glenmary Saints 69-43. St. Mary’s Auroras led from the start, taking a 29-10 lead after 10 minutes. Glenmary shifted to a zone defense at the 12:00 mark but fell further behind 45-22 at the half. Kristen Joblonkay led the scoring for the Auroras with 19. Lauren Perry added 10. Paige Podolchuk led the Saints with 24. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Bawlf Wildcats defeated the Vegreville St. Mary’s Saints 51-43. The Saints led early but a late run gave the Wildcats a 29-19 lead at the half. Vegreville came out firing in the second half and pulled to within 2 points with 8 minutes remaining but the Wildcats withstood the charge. Susan Skriver led Bawlf with 18. Janelle Yuha added 11 and Bailey Sereda 8. Krystal Dmytrk paced Vegreville with 17. Sarah Giebelhaus added 12 and Sarah Van Yken 10.
In the quarterfinals, the Calgary Christian Cougars defeated the Milk River Erle Rivers Novas 66-62 after leading 32-29 at the half. Erle Rivers stayed close with their defensive intensity, but Calgary’s size proved the difference. Kayla Dykstra finished with 25 points for Calgary Christian, with Lindsay Visser notching 17. Jocelyn Rawleigh led Erle Rivers with 25, while Sara Johansen contributed 14. The Novas also included Julie Bogle
The 9th-seeded Edmonton Christian Lions upset the top-seeded Acme Redmen 76-72. The Redmen were playing in honor of two members of the boys’ teams, Kyle Kostrosky and Ryan Wiens, who were killed in January when the van carrying them to a game collided with a pickup. In the van were three coaches and eight other players. “We’re playing to honour the boys we lost,” point guard Chelsea Price told the Calgary Herald. “As a team, we’ve seen a shift in why we’re playing.” Forward Amanda Penner added that “we’ve always been close but since the accident, I feel so much closer to everyone. They’ve helped so much.” The team wore Kostrosky’s No. 6 and Wiens’ No. 14 on their jerseys. With several of the boys injured in the accident, the boy’s program was discontinued after the incident. Women’s coach Dave Price said the players decided to continue the season after missing a few weeks. Lions guard Karin Buisman got hot in the second half, hitting 4 three-point field goals to propel Edmonton into the lead late in the game. Acme made a valiant effort to get back into the game, but Edmonton Christian was able to beat their press, and capitalize on the offensive end to pull out the win. Karin Buisman led Edmonton with 28 points, while Leanne Monsma added 18. Acme was led by Nicole Price with 20 points. Jodi Leinweber added 19 and Chelsea Price 17. The Redmen (coached by Dave Price, assisted by Colleen Kanderka) also included Jessica Lienweber, Amber Heffner.
The Devon John Maland Wildcats defeated the Taber St. Mary’s Auroras 61-48. Both were tentative early, taking nearly five minutes before either hit a bucket. The Wildcats dominated at the foul line making 6-9 free throws. The Auroras were quickly in foul trouble giving up bonus with 12:45 to go. The Wildcats were still capitalizing at the line. After 12:15 the Auroras capitalized with a few quick points to draw within 9. Both teams surged back and forth for a number of minutes with the Auroras creeping within 4. With 5 minutes remaining the Wildcats slowed the game down and regained an 11-point lead at the 2-minute mark and then iced it at the line. The Auroras (coached by Laurel Zanolli, assisted by Ken Gabruck and Josh Zanolli) included Tabitha Williams, Randi Tajcnar, Kristy Gabruck, Katie Pyne, Lauren Perry. Kristen Joblonkay, Janna Zanolli, Stephanie Lastuka.
In the last quarterfinal, the Bawlf Wildcats upset the 3rd-seeded Three Hills Prairie Christian Academy Sabres 63-54. Bawlf’s pressure forced a number of turnovers and their aggressive offensive boardwork helped them to an early lead. Prairie attacked the glass but missed the bunny layups. Bawlf took the 39-36 lead at the half, although Prairie rallied late on a series of steals leading to transition buckets. The second half started slowly with no scoring for the first 3:30. Bawlf scored the first 2 points at 15:41. Only 2 points were scored by the 13:56 mark but then Prairie scored 4 quick points before 13:00 to draw within one. Both teams exchanged foul shots and Prairie tied the game at 42. Aggressive defense by both sides kept it close. Bawlf had 8 fouls and Prairie shot bonus for the final five minutes. After the 5:00 mark Bawlf scored two quick baskets to push their lead and then hung on for the win. “We play with as much heart as any team in these championships,” Wildcats coach Dale Zarski told the Red Deer Advocate. “We’re not the tallest team nor the fastest, but I would be hard-pressed to find a team that plays with any more desire. … I would say we’re the only team in the 2A division in the province that consistently uses a full court man-to-man defence. There may be better ways to play at times, but that’s the way we play and will continue to play. We could adjust at times, but I feel if our girls want to go on and play college or university ball this is the best defence for them to play.” Wildcat guard Janelle Yuha stole the ball from Sabres Cassie Penner and converted it into a fast-break basket which put the Wildcats ahead by four with a little over one minute remaining. Yuha “knows how to play defence and has done that all season, said Zarski. She does a great job of moving her feet and has the ability to put pressure on her check, but also not allow her to drive on her. That was a huge play for us. They could have easily tied the game there and then it’s up for grabs.” Susan Skriver and Janelle Yuha each scored 13 to pace the Wildcats. Vanessa Gallant added 11. Cassie Penner paced the Sabres with 14. Julie Robinson added 13 and Sandra Allison 11.
In the semis, the Calgary Christian Cougars defeated the Edmonton Christian Lions 61-52. Karen Buisman sunk an early 3 but Kayla Dykstra took command in the paint. Buisman continued to sink treys and drive the paint as Edmonton rallied to take the lead but a timeout settled the Cougars. Verhoef hit a free throw and a trey to give Calgary the lead but the Lions rallied on fastbreak layups by VanderVeen and Monsma. Calgary broke the press and stole the ball for a transition bucket but then point guard Lindsay Visser injured her ankle. The teams traded buckets to give Calgary a 40-33 lead at the half. Schenk scored an early three for Edmonton and Ruth Niewenhuis cleaned up a rebound to score 2 for Calgary. Calgary was forced to sub when Ashley Jagt went down early and her head impacted the floor. Although Karen Buisman soon picked up her fourth foul, Edmonton rallied to tie the game with 15 minutes to play. Verhoef drove for a bucket to put Calgary back in the lead. Dykstra added another before committing her fourth foul. Verhoef nailed a trey. But Edmonton dominated the offensive glass as they trimmed the margin. Verhoef stole the ball and raced for a layup to give Calgary a 7 point and the Niewenhaus posted up for a bucket and the Cougars iced it at the line.
In the other semi, the Devon John Maland Wildcats nipped the Bawlf Wildcats 45-42. Devon jumped out to a 15-6 lead on the post play of Suzy Daugela. Bawlf rallied to tie the game at 22 on the perimeter shooting of Susan Skriver. Devon’s Linzee Haluzka sank two free throws to give the Wildcats a 24-22 lead at the half. Devon continued to hold their lead through the second half with Daugela and Ashleigh Ness controlling the backboards. They maintained at least a six-point lead down the stretch. Skriver hit a long trey with three seconds remaining to trim the margin to three but the Wildcats hung on for the win.
In the bronze medal match, the Bawlf Wildcats defeated the Edmonton Christian Lions 55-41. The Wildcats built an early 25-12 lead on the perimeter shooting of Susan Skriver, transition buckets by Janelle Yuha and the inside play of Burnstad. Vanessa Gallant and Bailey Sereda added buckets before Karen Buisman and Amy Roscher nailed jumpers to rally the Lions within 31-18 at the half. Bawlf took the air out of the ball in the second half. Skriver hit a layup to put the Wildcats ahead 33-21. The Wildcats maintained a double-digit lead in the ensuing parade to the foul line and coasted to the win.
In the final, the Devon John Maland Wildcats defeated the Calgary Christian Cougars 63-50. The teams traded the lead in the hard-fought first half. Lindsay Visser hit a bucket to open the second half but Heather Sibbald in a free throw and a transition layup to rally Devon. Suzy Daugela knotted the score on an old-fashioned three-point play. Sibbald added a trey and then Daugela hit a bucket over Kayla Dykstra to give Devon a 34-30 lead. The game was tight through most of the second half before Devon began to pull away on buckets by Heather Sibbald and Suzy Daugela.
The bronze medalist Bawlf Wildcats: Susan Skriver; Janelle Yuha; Bailey Sereda; O’Riordan; Burnstad; Kirby Lohr; Heather Macdonald; Vanessa Gallant; coach Dale Zarski
The silver medalist Calgary Christian Cougars: Kayla Dykstra; Ashley Jagt; Lindsay Visser; Jordan Verhoeff; Ruth Niewenhuis; Sanchia Kamps
The gold medalist Devon John Maland Wildcats: Alissa Fownes; Suzy Daugela; Linzee Haluzka; Ashleigh Ness; Hayley Quickfall; Torrie Fisher; Carrie Pigford; Heather Sibbald; Panteluk; Neilson;