In the opening round, held in Red Deer: …………………………………………………… The Edmonton Archbishop O’Leary Spartans dumped the Cochrane Cobras 72-53. The Cobras included Holly Robertson, Kate Rive, Heather Tuner. …………………………………………………… The Calgary William Aberhart Trojans defeated the Red Deer Notre Dame Cougars 71-46 as Joanna Card scored 34 and Meghan Stastook 15. The Trojans led 25-17 early. Irma Hernandez led the Cougars with 10. Lindsey Helmer added 9. The Cougars (coached by Dale Henderson) also included Danielle Heykants, Leana Lavery, Lindsay Keogh, Hillary Knudson, Danielle Heykants. Henderson told the Red Deer Advocate that “defensively, we played a tight zone and did a good job on getting on them. But at the same time, we couldn’t score either. I think we were squeezing the ball a little too tight. … They made a few changes against our zone and we just couldn’t stop Card. If they would shot in the second half like they did in the first, this would have been an interesting finish.” …………………………………………………… The Sherwood Park Salisbury Sabres whipped the Grande Prairie Totems 74-47. The Totems included Ashley Guise, Jenny Head, Sophia Thompson. …………………………………………………… The Leduc Tigers stomped the Red Deer Hunting Hills Lightning 83-52 as Jen Pomerleu scored 23, Amy Van Doesburg 18 and Maia DeKlerk 15. Ruth Fitzsimmonds led the Lightning with 17. Stacey Sinclair added 12. The Lightning (coached by Shelley Lower, manager Megan Boyce) also included Arden Rhine, Jessica Guenther, Kelsey Sinclair, Renee Bolkowy, Chelsey Peterson, Breanne Bothwell, Lindsay Wardner, Jamie Kristianson, Drew Vanson and Tannis Crane. Lower told the Red Deer Advocate that “we just weren’t used to seeing someone (6-3 Van Doesburg) that tall. Even if we could practice against someone taller – it would have helped. The girls weren’t aware of doubling down and helping Ruth (Fitzsimmonds).” Fitzsimmons said “I just tried to be as quick as I could but she was tough to play against. But she wasn’t the only inside player they had. They had a strong inside game and we couldn’t handle it.” Tigers coach Ryan Radke said “our inside game is certainly one of our strengths but we like to think we have a diversified attack. Amy is a big part of our game but when we get against teams that double down on her, we need everyone to step up.” Lower said when the Lightning doubled down, Van Doesburg “passed well and found the open player.”
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans (which had won 10 straight Edmonton Premier League titles) defeated the 9th-seeded Edmonton Archbishop O’Leary Spartans 57-52 as Kelly Schwindt scored 17 and Anne Fleming 9. Leanne Theuss, Tonya Brown and Nadine Pyzyk each scored 10 for O’Leary. The Spartans also included Carlye Hicks, Nicole O’Connor, Chelsea Ellis.
The 4th-seeded Medicine Hat Kwahommies defeated the 5th-seeded Calgary William Aberhart Trojans 64-61 as Lindsay Woodard scored 18 and Jill White and Stacy Toews each scored 10. The Trojans exploded to a 7-0 lead but Woodard rallied the Kwahommies to a 33-24 lead at the half. “A lot of girls came up with big scoring for us,” Kwahommies coach Boris Grisonich told the Medicine Hat News, including Stacey Toews, who hit a pair of treys early in the second half to extend the lead to 53-36. The Trojans stormed back to trim the margin to three with 31 seconds to play but the Kwahommies sealed the win with an Amy Thorogood bucket. “I was really worried,” said 15-year-old Toews. “I was kinda worried at the beginning, too. Then we started to play our game.” Joanna Card led Aberhart with 19. Meghan Stastook added 13, Tara Steinwand 10 and Bronwyn Bragg 10. The Trojans also included Tori Schtazendruber.
The 7th-seeded Sherwood Park Salisbury Sabres stunned the 2nd-seeded Calgary St. Mary’s Saints 69-52 as Sarah Meek scored 23 and Jenn Covelli 10. Jessica Foltinek led the Saints with 33. Joanna Nienczewska added 10. The Saints (coached by Diane McClair, assisted by Janet Herrem) also included Meg Wallis, Nancy Ling, Gabrielle Sade, Emily Gauthier, Sue-Rose-Slade, Rosalyn Campbell.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Calgary Dr. E.P. Scarlett Lancers defeated the 6th-seeded Leduc Tigers 71-54 as Ashley Dutchak scored 29 and Sarah Craig 15. But starting center Christa McMillan injured her knee three minutes into the game and was lost to the Lancers for the remainder of the tournament. Amy Van Doesburg led the Tigers with 19. Vanessa Boudreau added 13. The Tigers (coached by Ryan Radke) also included Jen Pomerleau, Maia DeKlerk.
In the semis, the top-seeded Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans thrashed the 4th-seeded Medicine Hat Kwahommies 61-47 as Lisa Tolley scored 14, Andree Kiernan 13 (also reported as 14) and Lindsay Jantzie 12. Titans coach John Huot told the Red Deer Advocate that regular season experience was invaluable. “We run a big tournament every year and get a lot of very good teams and we get invited to a lot of tournaments. We’ve probably played about 25 really strong teams this year, so it really gives you an advantage by the time you get to provincials. You’re playing high-level competition almost every week … I think that was one of the best games we’ve played this year. … We’re a team that makes it difficult for the other team to score.” Kendra Schmidt led Medicine Hat with 14. Tessa Parker and Stacey Towes each added 10. “We thought if everything went well, we would have a chance, but we were just over-matched,” Kwahommies coach Boris Grisonich told the Medicine Hat News. “If we played Ainlay 10 times, I think we would beat them once. That is if they played as well as they played tonight.” The Titans led 35-30 at the half. “They did a good job of making us take tough shots,” Grisonich said. “Their defence is very strong.”
In the other semi, the top-seeded Calgary Dr. E.P. Scarlett Lancers pounded the 7th-seeded Sherwood Park Salisbury Sabres 78-51 as Craig scored 24, Ashley Dutchak 22 and Erin Mercier 10. Nicole MacLeod led Salisbury with 15. Sarah Meek and Jenn Covelli each added 11.
In the bronze medal match, the 7th-seeded Sherwood Park Salisbury Sabres defeated the 4th-seeded Medicine Hat Kwahommies 54-16. “We just weren’t into it,” Kwahommies guard Amy Toews told the Medicine Hat News. “We were so emotionally drained and physically drained from the night before, because that’s the game that counted the most. That was supposed to be the game. So after we lost it, I think we just wanted to get out of there.” Jenn Covelli led the Sabres with 15. Robin Joy added 10. Stacey Toews paced the Kwahommies with 12. Lindsay Woodard added 10. The Kwahommies (coached by Boris Grisonich) also included Kendra Smid, Tessa Parker, Amy Thorogood, Jen Tschritter, Lindsay Bardahl, Naomi Decosse, Lindsay Bardahl, Leanne Hern, Jill White, Kaylin Sackley, Kim Schreiber.
In the final, the top-seeded Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans defeated the 3rd-seeded Calgary Dr. E.P. Scarlett Lancers 57-55 as Kelly Schwindt scored 17 and Sasha Andrews 12. Ashley Dutchak led Scarlett with 23. Sarah Craig added 17. Ainlay took an early lead on tough inside play but Kelly Schwindt and SMU-bound Sasha Andrews rallied the Titans. Scarlett switched a zone and rallied back. With 19 seconds to play, Ainlay called a time out and Sasha Andrews hit a bucket with 2.5 seconds on the clock to win it for the Titans. Andrews was surrounded as she hit the bucket. “I knew that ball was going in the basket,” Andrews told the Edmonton Journal. “Whatever I had to do, there was no way I was going to miss that shot.” Coach John Huot said it was a designed play. “We called the time out and made sure there would be a player cutting to the basket. We also wanted to score late enough that Scarlett wouldn’t have much time to come back on us. They had been coming back all night. We knew they wouldn’t quit.” Assistant coach Lyle Watson was stunned by the victory. “We lost our big post Christa McMillan two minutes into our first game with a twisted knee. The girls came a long way without Christa. It could’ve gone either way,” he told the Calgary Herald. The Ainlay win ended Scarlett’s streak of three straight titles.
The bronze medalist Sherwood Park Salisbury Sabres: Nicole MacLeod; Sarah Meek; Jenn Covelli; Robin Joy;
The silver medalist Calgary Dr. E.P. Scarlett Lancers: Ashley Dutchak; Erin Mercier; Sarah Craig; Krista McMillan; Katherine Adams; coach Bryce Tolley
The gold medalist Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans: Lindsay Jantzie; Anne Fleming; Sasha Andrews; Keltie Schwindt; Christa McMillan; coach John Huot, assistant Lyle Watson; assistant Kim Wiley