In the opening round, held in Three Hills: …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Calgary Christian Cougars dumped the 9th-seeded Lacombe Central Alberta Christian Lady Knights 68-54. The Knights included Nahani DenOudsten, Kara Folkerts, Kim Luymes, Heather Noordhof, Megan Scholing, Martha Stad, Brittany TenHove, Sarah Ubels, Krista Vanderleek, Jill Weenink and Erin Wiersma. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Bonnyville Notre Dame Wildcats edged the 12th-seeded Black Diamond Oilfields Drillers 57-51. The Drillers (coached by Barb Brinkley and Randy Heidebrecht) include Mandy Abraham, Jessie Elliott, Carly Hoar, Courtney Hughes, Kayla Hughes, Rochelle Jacobs, Stephanie Knight and Rebecca Tucker. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Fort Macleod F.P. Walshe Meteors nipped the 10th-seeded La Crete Lancers 57-54. F.P. Walshe came out on fire and found themselves ahead 22–7 at the end of the first quarter. La Crete never threatened. Sydney Plourde paced the Meteors with 17. Cassie Walmsley added 16, Allyssa Zoeteman 14, Amanda MacDonald 8, Kate Boot 6, Kaylee Zoeteman 4, Amanda Hofer 3, Naomi Burbank 2 and Carlee Prete 2. The Lancers included Michelle Doerksen, Kari Enns, Katelyn Enns, Lindsey Fehr, Jessica Friesen, Emily Giesbrecht, Kaileen Janzen, Darlene Peters, Catherine Stalker, Tiffany Unruh, Shannan Uttaro and Teresa Wiebe. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Hanna J.C. Charyk Hawks stomped the 11th-seeded Edson Holy Redeemer Rebels 70-36, after leading 40-16 at the half. “Defence set the tone,” said Hawks coach Rick Haines. “They could not handle the in-your-face man-to-man defence that led to numerous turnovers and run-outs for transition hoops … they were big.” Haines said Delaine Carl was outstanding fronting them and rebounding at both ends, while Brandi Haessel and Courtney Griffith came off the bench to play well in the post. Carl had a “monster game” scoring a game-high 26 points. Sarah Warwick and Leanne Crowle each added 12. “The bench players got lots of valuable game time,” Haines said. Nicole Deschner paced the Rebels with 7. The Rebels also included Breanna Arndt, Miranda Bischke, Kristin Clark, Michelle Eastman, Jenna Haack, Heidi Mills, Monica VonGaza, Courtney Wild, Cree Williams and Abby Winstone.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Lethbridge Immanuel Christian Eagles whipped the 8th-seeded Calgary Christian Cougars 84-48. The Cougars included Jenni Buroker, Jordan Dooley, Tayah Dykema, Jessica Funk, Rebecca Jette, Morgan Kerber, Lindsay Mielnichuk, Lynnette Oliver, Vanessa Paas, Jennifer Redenbach, Jessica Roseboom and Jessica Zwaagstra.
The 4th-seeded Leduc Christ the King Chargers edged the 5th-seeded Bonnyville Notre Dame Wildcats 63-61. The Wildcats included Amy Demers, Katelyn Jubinville, Nikki Laporte, Adelle Lastiwka, Arielle Lavoie, Alicia Mack, Kacy Marcotte, Stevey Ozaruk, Carli Sylvestre and Erika Szydlik.
The 2nd-seeded Three Hills Prairie Christian Academy Sabres whipped the 7th-seeded Fort Macleod F.P. Walshe Meteors 64-40. The Meteors were completely overwhelmed for the first quarter and trailed 23–8. They never threatened. Keely Weigum paced the Sabres with 18. Brooklyn Fritz added 17, along with 5 blocks, Claire Richardson 9, along with 5 blocks, and Shawni Woodland 9. Sydney Plourde scored 20 to pace the Meteors (coached by Jim Burdett, assisted by Andrew Wamsley). Cassie Walmsley added 6, Ruby Kinsella 4, Kaitlin Quinlan 3, Amanda Hofer 3, Kate Boot 2, Allyssa Zoeteman 2 and Dakota Kambietz 2, while Naomi Burbank, Amanda MacDonald, Tenille Poettcker, Carlee Prete and Kaylee Zoeteman were scoreless.
In the last quarterfinal, the 6th-seeded Hanna J.C. Charyk Hawks stunned the 3rd-seeded Peace River Nomads 58-45 after leading 26-22 at the half and 40-29 after three quarters. But the Nomads twice closed to within a bucket down the stretch before the Hawks defence and the post play of Delaine Carl and Jordyn Grantham sealed the win. “Aly Price did a great job hounding their ball handler and Sarah Warwick took advantage by stealing the pass to start the break,” said Hawks coach Rick Haines. Aly Price and Sarah Warwick each scored 15 to lead the Hawks. Jordyn Grantham added 14, Delaine Carl 11 and Leanne Crowle 4. Leanne Crowle could only manage four, still recovering from an illness from the previous week that reduced her practicing with the team. Maggie Zacsko led the Nomads with 17. The Nomads also included Sarah Guey, Kelsey Heitkoetter, Tori McFaddin, Kennedy Millar, Sophia Millar, Amanda Naturkach, Vicki Setz, Tori Smith, Nicole Snyder, Krissy Stagg and Kaitlyn Taylor.
In the semis, the top-seeded Lethbridge Immanuel Christian Eagles clipped the 4th-seeded Leduc Christ the King Chargers 81-66.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Three Hills Prairie Christian Academy Sabres whipped the 6th-seeded Hannah J.C. Charyk Hawks 60-43 in a reprise of the south central zone final. Sabres 6-2 post Claire Richardson was the difference, scoring 24 and blocking 5 shots. Keely Weigum added 11, Shawni Woodland 10, Jenna Cole 9, Brooklyn Fritz 4 and Dylana Knelsen 2. Sarah Warwick paced the Hawks with 16. Aly Price added 8 and Leanne Crowle 5. The score was tied at 14 after one quarter. The Sabres led 28-21 at the half and broke the game open in the fourth by outscoring Hanna 18-10. “The girls played very well — had some trouble scoring — and lack of size hurt the opportunity to get out and run, a big part of our game, and also made it tough to defend,” said Hawks coach Rick Haines. “Excellent defence just got out-sized sometimes. We played Prairie tough in our semi-final, but the score did not reflect the game they went on to win. We played great ‘D’ versus them as they are bigger at every position on the court … we just could not get ball to drop as we had good shots and took care of the ball. Their size hurt us. That was the difference. (Prairie) took care of the ball. They played hard on defence. We drove the lane, beat their players but Brooklyn Fritz and Claire Richardson blocked or changed our shots. On kick-outs their wings were just bigger than ours, enough to make them contested shots. Great effort and the game was intense. Much closer than the score indicated. We just got worn down late in the fourth and they pulled ahead.”
In the bronze medal match, the 4th-seeded Leduc Christ the King Chargers defeated the Hanna J.C. Charyk Hawks 69-62. Hawks coach Rick Haines said his troops “showed their heart and competitive desire down 23 at the half. They got it to one point with two minutes to go, but Leduc just did not miss any foul shots.” The Chargers led 24-9 after one quarter and 44-18 at the half. “The Chargers came out on fire … they could not miss an outside shot and we could not stop their penetration without fouling,” said Haines. “It just snowballed … maybe an avalanche. Then we could not get the ball to drop. (Leduc) put the game out of reach early in the second quarter when they were up 36-13. This was tough for the Hawks who worked hard, but got no rewards for it.” The Hawks opened the second half with a 23-6 run, ignited by renewed defence tenacity and help-side defence. “Plus the ball started to drop for us and they not only cooled off, but went ice cold,” said Haines. The Hawks closed to one but were forced to foul down the stretch, allowing the chargers to ice down the line. Jenelle Monty paced the Chargers with 25. Lauren Parker added 23. Leanne Crowle led the Hawks with 19. Sarah Warwick added 16 and Ali Price 11. The Hawks also included Martina Beckie, Delaine Carl, Lindsey Crowle, Carissa Ferguson, Jordyn Grantham, Courtney Griffith, Bandie Haessel, Annie Howery and Carla Lenfesty.
In the final, the 2nd-seeded Three Hills Prairie Christian Academy Sabres upset the top-seeded Lethbridge Immanuel Christian Eagles 78-70. After a see-saw battle with many lead changes, the Sabres led 36-34 at the half. The shots began to fall and they led 65-53 after three quarters and then withstood the Eagles full court pressure in the fourth frame to hang on for the win. Key to the Sabres success was their rebounding, and tough defense on Eagle post Lily Moradel, holding her to only 2 first half field goals, along with 5 free throws. The Sabres dominated the glass on both ends, with 37 offensive rebounds netting many second chances, including 5 key baskets off of their own missed foul shots. Post Claire Richardson had 16 rebounds, with fellow post Brooklyn Fritz and wing Jenna Cole adding 9 each, but it was Shawni Woodland who led the rebounding parade with 23, including 16 during crunch time in the second half. Keely Weigum led the Sabres with 21, along with 4 assists and 4 steals. Claire Richardson added 18, along with 4 blocks, Shawni Woodland 17, Brooklyn Fritz 17, along with 4 blocks, Jenna Cole 3, along with 4 assists and 4 steals, and Bruna Salerno 2. Hannah Forster and Nicole Postman paced the Eagles with 21 points apiece.
The bronze medalist Leduc Christ the King Chargers: Virginia D’Anjou; Kennedy Gelety; Lindsay Kruger; Catherine Lamer; Andrea Marshall; Kirsten Meyn; Jenelle Monty; Lauren Parker; Christian Richert; coach Terry Schipper
The silver medalist Lethbridge Immanuel Christian Eagles: Hannah Forster; Courtney Groenenboom; Rachel Groenenboom; Jaime Hummel; Stephanie Konynenbelt; Lily Moradel; Nicole Postman; Kaitlyn VanZeggelaar; Jenae Veldman; Cobi Wever; coach Wendy Procee; assistant Joe Groenenboom; assistant Scott Forster
The gold medalist Three Hills Prairie Christian Academy Sabres: Jelena Bergen; Jenna Cole; Paige Cole; Brooklyn Fritz; Courtney Hanger; Naomi Kim; Dylana Knelsen; Kacy Nelson; Claire Richardson; Bruna Salerno; Milena Salerno; Victoria Slootweg; Keely Weigum; Shelby Wiens; Shawni Woodland; coach Candice Riemersma