In the opening round, the 5th-seeded Dunmore Eagle Butte Talons crushed the 12th-seeded St. Paul Regional Saints 82-38 as Courtney Heinricks scored 14 and Tianna Holt 12. Sammy Parenteau paced the Saints with 14. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Edmonton Christian Lions thrashed the 9th-seeded Spruce Grove St. Thomas Aquinas Thunder 74-45 as Saskia VanGinhoven scored 20 and Leanne Kadatz 20. Holly Pohl paced the Thunder with 16. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Magrath Pandas defeated the 11th-seeded Beaverlodge Regional Royals 77-33 as Samyra Alston scored 20. Courtney Willis led the Royals with 15. Magrath’s full-court press quickly generated a 15-point lead. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded Calgary Chestermere Lakers stunned the 7th-seeded Camrose Trojans 68-62 as Brittany Eckstrand scored 20 and Jocelyn Sarrasin 15. Gina Brown and Taylor Heck each notched 14 for the Trojans.
In the quarterfinals, the 5th-seeded Dunmore Eagle Butte Talons clipped the 4th-seeded Wetaskiwin Sabres 70-56.
The top-seeded
Calgary Springbank Phoenix clocked the 8th-seeded Edmonton Christian
Lions 96-57. “We ended up wearing them down,” said Phoenix coach Adonis
Palomino. “It was a close game at the beginning, but our depth just wore them
down.” Claire Colborne paced the Phoenix with 36.
The 3rd-seeded Okotoks
Holy Trinity Knights dumped the 6th-seeded Magrath Pandas 68-58. “We
didn’t shoot well, but our defence was outstanding,” Knights coach Ken Power
said. They also accomplished a pretty significant goal — they won the game. Nitanis
Bradley was on fire for the Knights as she finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Michelle Sereda was right behind Bradley with 19 points. Annalise Posein also
had a double-double as she finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Pandas (coached
by Tim Woolf) included Samyra Alston, Mikenlee Woolf, Katie Smart, Sarah Balderson,
Bethany Dahl, Jad Blumel, Corinne Jensen, Jordan Hansen, Elise Wilde, Kelsey
Scott, Tara Low and Courtney Hillmer.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded St. Albert Catholic Skyhawks stomped the 10th-seeded Calgary Chestermere Lakers 69-43.
In the semis, the
top-seeded Calgary Springbank Phoenix defeated the 5th-seeded
Dunmore Eagle Butte Talons 79-65 as Claire Colbourne scored 40. Courtney Heinricks
paced the Talons with 23. Springbank led by 20 points at the half in this game,
but even a combination of taking their feet off the gas and inspired play by
Eagle Butte couldn’t close the gap enough. “They played with a lot of passion,”
said Phoenix coach Adonis Palomino, “but there were too many weapons on Springbank.”
In the other semi, the 3rd-seeded
Okotoks Holy Trinity Knights edged the 2nd-seeded St. Albert
Catholic Skyhawks 57-53 as Annalise Posein scored 19 points and nabbed eight rebounds.
The Knights were down by four at halftime and were still trailing after three
quarters. But Trinity had history working in its favour. “We had beaten St. Albert
earlier in the year when we were behind in the fourth quarter,” coach Ken Power
explained. “We knew we could come back to win. St. Albert wasn’t so sure.” Posein
made back-to-back three-point shots to spark the Knights’ rally. Nine of
Posein’s 19 points came from three-pointers. She was eight for 10 in shooting
in the semifinal victory. Kelli Lomenda and Ally Lee had nine points against
St. Albert. The Skyhawks were able to get to within one with approximately two
minutes left, when Lomenda was fouled while making a lay-up. She made the free
throw to give the Knights a four-point cushion. “Our shooting was just atrocious,”
said St. Albert coach John Dedrick. “They played a zone against us, which we would
actually encourage because it leaves Krista Zubick to kind of roam the boards
without having a man specifically on her. We’ve got enough shooters and usually
we hit our outside shots. You’ve also got Christina [Kracher] and Carleigh [Miller]
that kind of penetrate. But in that game, we couldn’t hit the broad side of a
barn.” A slim halftime lead slipped away from the Skyhawks. There was no scoring
in the last three minutes of the game despite chances at both ends. “We even
fouled them and they missed their foul shots. We would come back down, get a wide-open
look or layup, blow the layup, get an offensive rebound, kick it out, shoot a
jump shot and miss it. We just could not buy a basket.”
In the bronze medal match, the 2nd-seeded
St. Albert Skyhawks edged the 5th-seeded Dunmore Eagle Butte Talons
68-61. “We’re happy obviously that we ended the tournament on a winning note.
That was big for us,” said St. Albert coach John Dedrick. “After winning bronze
they were ecstatic. It was like we won the gold. To us this was as high as we
could finish and were coming home with a medal.” The Talons hit a three-point
at the end of the game to make the score closer than it was. “I don’t want to
say we cruised to victory but it seemed like every time they made a shot we
answered right back, which was a huge sign of character for us,” Dedrick said. “It
was all about playing with no regrets. For most of them, they would not be playing
basketball again in a team setting so this was a big memory for them. They were
an outstanding team. We just played good defence and we were bigger than they
were. Part of our size wore them down a little bit. [Kracher] had a good game.
Zubick also had a good game. They didn’t have anybody that could match up to
her. We were also small enough to handle their guards. We were just a better
match up against them. We were also able to play everybody so it was a complete
team effort.” The Skyhawks finished (25-9) on the season. “We took a CIS-bound
volleyball player [Zubick] and a CIS-bound soccer player [Miller] and put them
with some other girls that just play basketball and that’s all they do. We
added some other great athletes and through hard work and some outstanding Grade
10s, we put together a successful year. We’re the little school that could, so
to speak.” Courtney Heinricks led the Talons with 28, including 5 treys. Tianna
Holt added 12. The Talons (coached by Mark Heinricks) also included Janae
Herman, Kristie Swetnam
In the final, the top-seeded Calgary Springbank Phoenix defeated the 3rd-seeded Okotoks Holy Trinity Knights 88-66. While Knights Coach Ken Power wasn’t doing cartwheels about the loss, he sounded a lot more like Dick Vitale than Bobby Knight Monday afternoon. “I am very proud of these young ladies,” Power said. “We said at the start of the year that our goal was to get to the finals. A lot of people wouldn’t have been brave enough to say in public that was our goal. We came together as a team and we did.” The Knights got off to an ominous start against the Phoenix, as it appeared HTA was shooting into a hoop one inch smaller in diameter than the basketball. “Three of our first four shots appeared to go a halfway down the basket and then bounce out,” Power said. “It set the tone for the whole game.” Springbank’s top player Claire Colborne, was held in check. However, point guard Emily Larson had the Phoenix rising against HTA. “Ally Lee did a phenomenal job on her (Colborne),” Power said. “But every time we would get the lead down to 10, Emily Larson would hit a three.” Larson canned six three-point field goals in the final. “They really stepped up to play us,” Knight Annalise Posein said of the Phoenix. The Phoenix captured their first provincial title in five seasons. Holy Trinity had a distinct size advantage in the game, with four players five-feet-ten or taller, compared to Springbank’s three players that size, and a shorter starting five. But the Phoenix had superior speed. “Their post players weren’t as talented ours,” said coach Adonis Palomino. “What we found was, they weren’t as quick.” This opened up options for outside shooting, where they had several options in addition to points leader, Grade 10 Claire Colborne. Grade 12 Emily Larson hit six three-pointers. “We really worked the perimeter well,” said Palomino. The score was tighter than that at various points of the game, including a nine-point margin at the end of the third quarter to cut the margin to nine points. Holy Trinity then hit the first basket of the fourth quarter, before Springbank answered with a five-nothing run, after which they never looked back. “That was the point that I knew – we had weathered any comeback and gone on a run of our own,” said Palomino. Colborne paced the Phoenix with 33.
The bronze medalist St. Albert Skyhawks: Hilary Annich; Birkley Doll; Courtney Gogowich; Krista Gosche; Andrea Heavener; Christina Kracher; Melissa Larison; Erica Low; Kelsey Marshall; Carleigh Miller; Stephanie Neumann; Krista Zubick; coach John Dedrick; assistant Greg Marshall; assistant Travis Hay; manager Laura Coco
The silver medalist Okotoks Holy Trinity Knights: Nitanis Bradley; Whitney Bysterveld; Shelbe Glidden; Alana Hinchelwood; Jill Johnson; Jessica LaGrange; Ally Lee; Katie Lee; Kelli Lomenda; Annalise Posein; Michelle Sereda; Barbara Wiegele; coach Ken Power; assistant Kevin Crawford; assistant Sue Wolf; manager Kristine O’Brien
The gold medalist Calgary Springbank Phoenix: Claire Colborne; Katelyn Corkey; Emily Larson; Kristen Lee; Kelda Lundmark; Gabby Mercuur; Sarah Nieto; Paige Robinson; Lora Walsh; Kari Youmans; coach Adonis Palomino; assistant Ron Kuzmickas; manager Chris Monfort; trainer Cath Larson