In the opening round, held in Calgary: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds thrashed the 16th-seeded Grande Prairie Tomahawks 85-37 as Kate Hole scored 18 and Jody Tin 14. Cherish Easu led Grande Prairie with 16. Stacey Head added 11. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Airdrie Bert Church Chargers nipped the 8th-seed Calgary St. Mary’s Saints 81-77 as Ashley Hill scored 35. Andrea Oppenheimer added 20, Kaitlin Stevens 8, Alison Stitt 6, Leah Spenst 5, Sharelle Dunn 4, Nicole Soroka 4, Faryn Hill 0 and Lisa Stevens 0. Brittany Pekar paced St. Mary’s with 25. Kimberly Olness added 16. Ayen Malek added 16. Hill hit five treys and was 8-8 from the line. “I’ve been averaging about seven three-pointers a game,” Hill told the Calgary Herald. “I have to score for us to win. That’s my job.” Airdrie coach Doug Wilde said “I’ve never coached a team who can score like this. Our team is really young. We make a lot of mistakes. But we’re very resilient and most importantly, we play hard.” The Chargers led 52-42 at the half but the Saints Rachel Niven ignited a rally with two treys in the final minutes and a foul shot with 19 seconds to play as St. Mary’s crept within 79-77. But Hill nailed a pair from the line to ice the win. “I was just trying to get back in it and win,” said Niven. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Raymond Comets dumped the 12th-seeded Calgary Central Memorial Rams 86-53 as Robyn Fairbanks scored 37 and Brett Baldry 20. Elyse Hnatiuk paced Central Memorial with 17. Lindsay Ward added 11. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Edmonton Jasper Place Rebels defeated the 13th-seeded Red Deer Lindsay Thurber Raiders 68-43 as Georgia Popovici scored 18 and Camilla Lupicki 16. Kate Archer led Lindsay Thurber with 11. Erica Latta added 10. The game was moved from Calgary’s Lester B. Pearson High because of a bomb threat. “We never started on time because we had to move but that didn’t bother us,” Raiders coach Kathy Lalor told the Red Deer Advocate. “We just didn’t get our offence going and didn’t stop their outside shooting.” Lalor said the Raiders shut down the Rebels inside game. “We did a good job there, but inside they moved everything outside and they didn’t miss.” The Raiders (coached by Kathy Lalor) also included Jamie Thibeault, Tiffany Miller, Whitney Reid, Kaitlyn Brown. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Calgary Dr. E.P. Scarlett Lancers whipped the 14th-seeded Fort McMurray Father Mercredi Trappers 96-42 as Chelsea Klungel scored 23 and Rachel Johnson 18. Claire Altares paced Father Mercredi with 14. Nicole Ban added 13. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans defeated the 11th-seeded Medicine Hat Kwahommies 84-61 as Alex Gordichuk scored 27 and Andrea Ruste 15. Becky Henniger led Medicine Hat with 33. Kristine Berger added 6. “The girls were too excited,” Kwahommies coach Bryan Heninger told the Medicine Hat News. “We settled down in the second half but it was too late.” The Kwahommies (coached by Bryan Henninger, assisted by Murray Gartly) also included Alex Chesley, Kayley Ruzycki, Jenna Cunningham, Meagan Freeman, Jessica Zinger, Marjorie Konrad, Brittany Broderick, Chanda Herter and Chelsea Barr. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Clipper Queens upset the 7th-seeded Calgary Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs 59-58 as Jarah Wagner scored 17 and Jocelyn Black 14. Ashley Hilton led Sir Winston Churchill with 24. Emily Bolduc added 17. The Bulldogs (coached by Rick Frey) also included Ally Simpson, Danielle Lalonde. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Edmonton Archbishop O’Leary Spartans defeated the 15th-seeded Calgary William Aberhart Trojans 75-45. The Trojans (co-coached by John McKnight and x) included Stephanie Polski, Amber Syme.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds defeated the 9th-seeded Airdrie Bert Church Chargers 69-47 as Kate Hole scored 25, while Brogan Leslie and Miranda Bokenfohr each scored 10. Ashley Hill paced Bert Church with 12. Kaitlin Stevens added 12, Andrea Oppenheimer 11, Leah Spenst 5, Alison Hill 4 and Faryn Hill 3, while Sharelle Dunn, Lisa Stevens and Nicole Soroka were scoreless.
The 5th-seeded Raymond Comets defeated the 4th-seeded Edmonton Jasper Place Rebels 85-62 as Robyn Fairbanks scored 38, Mickenzie Czech 12, Brett Baldry 12, Alana Tollestrup 12 and Jackie Smith 10. Kriska Reyes led Jasper Place with 24. Camilla Lupicki added 20.
The 3rd-seeded Calgary Dr. E.P. Scarlett Lancers thrashed the 6th-seeded Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans 93-71 as Chelsea Klungel scored 15 and Stephanie Elford 14. Dale-Marie Cumberbatch and Alex Gordichuk each scored 16 for Ainlay.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Edmonton Archbishop O’Leary Spartans defeated the 10th-seeded Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Clipper Queens 69-63 as Lindsey Cupelli scored 17 and Malorie Sherman 14. Jaime Mark and Jesa Hill each scored 15 for Lethbridge. The Clipper Queens (coached by Ronna Wright, assisted by Lynette Taal and Diane Shanks) also included Jarah Wagner, Meghan Hawkins, Jocelyn Black, Lauren Taal, Shelby Hubbard, Dani Whitehead, Ashley Patzer, Kortney Sauer and Christie Pierson.
In the semis, the 5th-seeded Raymond Comets whipped the top-seeded Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds 71-54 as Robyn Fairbanks scored 32, Jackie Smith 14 and Mickenzie Czech 11. Caroline Gault paced Ross Sheppard with 26. Kate Hole added 10. “We rebounded well and got the ball up the court and scored lightning-quick on them,” Comets coach Karie Tollestrup told the Lethbridge Herald. “I think we put them on their heels so quickly that they couldn’t recover.” The Comets led 44-2 at the half. “Fairbanks has been just outstanding.” Said Tollestrup. “What’s most pleasing to me is the kids around her are stepping up. To me, they epitomize team. It’s pretty emotional. It’s huge. I think part of it is the fact we’ve been playing 4A now for a number of years and we’re used to going against these teams.”
In the other semi, the 3rd-seeded Calgary Dr. E.P. Scarlett Lancers dumped the 2nd-seeded Edmonton Archbishop O’Leary Spartans 69-62 as Rachel Johnson scored 33. Chelsea Klungel added 9. Mallorie Sherman and Rachel Raymond each notched 12 to lead O’Leary. Johnson said her teammates were determined to “prove to the province that we are no. 1 and we should have been ranked number one coming into the provincials instead of third.” Lancers coach Bryce Tolley told the Calgary Herald that his troops “didn’t push the ball like we normally would. This big court should be to our advantage all the time. We only scored probably 10 fastbreak baskets and we probably score 20-25 a game.”
In the bronze medal match, the 2nd-seeded Edmonton Archbishop O’Leary Spartans defeated the top-seeded Edmonton Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds 63-51 as Mallorie Sherman scored 16 and Lindsey Cupelli 11. Kate Hole led Ross Sheppard with 20. Caroline Gault added 15. The Thunderbirds (coached by Kim Wyley) also included Brogan Leslie, E.J. Melney.
In the final, the 5th-seeded Raymond Comets crushed the 3rd-seeded Calgary Dr. E.P. Scarlett Lancers 73-64 as Robyn Fairbanks scored 42. Brett Baldry added 13. Rachel Johnson paced E.P. Scarlett with 30. Kassie Baptiste added 10. Fairbanks, a 6-1 centre, was all but unstoppable. “We just didn’t get the defence we wanted on her,” Lancers coach Bryce Tolley told the Lethbridge Herald. “We were hoping she wouldn’t beat us and it didn’t happen. They couldn’t stop her.” Fairbanks was elated by the school’s first girls title. “This has been a heckuva week. I was nervous. This is the first time our school’s won anything this big. In the second half, we showed how we could play. Our whole team just played awesome this weekend. We all just came together, I think.” Raymond coach Karie Tollestrup said Fairbanks “had an unbelievable tournament. Nobody is better than her in Alberta. It took us a while to get going but when she hit that three, all of a sudden, the team came back. She’s been so outstanding all week. …I don’t think there’s anybody right now that’s happier than they are.” Fairbanks had drained a trey with 12 minutes to go to draw the comets within one. Seconds later, she added a bucket in the paint and the Comets started pressing, forcing a series of lancer turnovers. “We were outplayed,” said Tolley. “I don’t want to point fingers. But we played hard. They went up nine and we came back but, we couldn’t make a consistent run.” The hometown Lancers had led 29-25 at the half. Tollestrup said her Comets “did not want to be the ones who were given the opportunity to win and didn’t. They didn’t want to leave anything on the floor. And this being the first ever, it’s history making. And that makes it so sweet. Scarlett is a tough team, they are faster than we are and they are deeper than we are. But when ‘Banks decided we were going to win it everybody decided to slip up behind her.” Fairbanks hit six points in 10 seconds on a trey and a two-and-an-one to give the Comets their first lead at 45-43. Fairbanks also notched 25 boards and 8 blocks.
The bronze medalist Edmonton Archbishop O’Leary Spartans: Lindsey Cupelli, Mallorie Sherman; Rachel Raymond; Josie Peacock; Jessica Quinland; Bailey Brown; Courtney Fowler; Kaylynn Shewaga; Grace Mahary; Natasha Varma; Pamela Wran; Maria Spadafora; coach Ron Kutney
The silver medalist Calgary Dr. E.P. Scarlett Lancers: Chelsea Klungel; Rachel Johnson; Stephanie Elford; Kassie Baptiste; Jessica Lewis; Carolyn Wong; Susan Stein; Lynn Demeter; Jessica Mercier; Christy Demeter; Kelsey Sulkers; coach Bryce Tolley; coach L. Watson
The gold medalist Raymond Comets: Robyn Fairbanks, Brett Baldry, Jackie Smith, Mickenzie Czech, Alana Tollestrup; Ashley Day Chief; Avrey Ralph; Kristen Gibb; Mandy Baker; Ashley Meeks