In the opening round, held in Hinton: …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Wetaskiwin Sabres whipped the 12th-seeded Beaverlodge Royals 79-33. The Royals included Alicia Blum, Christine Castro, Amber Donovan, Sam Flynn, Shanai Gies, Miranda Kerik, Kayla Klatt, Erin Lieverse, Rachel Mumert, Kalene Quinn, Erica Romeo and Morgan Thomas. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Lloydminster Holy Rosary Raiders edged the 9th-seeded Morinville Wolves 57-51. The Wolves included Kayli Avveduti, Melyssa Derrien, Vicky Dubord, Elise Graham, Jenna Haisan, Alex Hann, Kristen Mossey, Connie Schaffrick, Kelly Tataryn, Sydney Thiessen, Kelsey VanBrabant and Kathryn West. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Edmonton Christian Lions stomped the host and 11th-seeded Hinton Harry Collinge Rockies 76-27. The Rockies suffered from stage fright, coach Al Shea said. “We played as well as we were going to.” The Rockies included Paige Aldred, Taylor Hynes, Paige Kammermayer, Karen Palashniuk, Rachelle Rowles and Angel Wagner. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Medicine Hat McCoy Colts bombed the 10th-seeded Calgary Bishop Carroll Cardinals 64-41. The Cardinals included Hayley Adams, Sascha Cann, Christine Hamill, Cheralyn Higgin, Sarah Kapiczowski, Nicky King, Kristen Macakasey, Bridget Pyke, Alisha Raymond, Christine Runge, Jayda Shreenan and Brittney Walchuck.
In the quarterfinals, the 5th-seeded Wetaskiwin Sabres nipped the 4th-seeded St. Albert Catholic Skyhawks 47-44. The Skyhawks included Hilary Annich, Stephanie Gartner, Courtney Gogowich, Andrea Heavener, Kaleigh Herald, Shelby Hucul, Jennifer Larison, Ellexis Lathan, Tricia McFarlane, Stephanie Neumann and Lisa Rombough.
The top-seeded Calgary Springbank Community Phoenix stuffed the 8th-seeded Lloydminster Holy Rosary Raiders 63-45. “They held us quite close in the first half, they actually surprisingly were running with us too. That played to our style, but it took us a whole half to shake them off,” Springbank coach Adonis Palomino said. “They were just basically a good team all around, but the score didn’t indicate how close the game was,” said Holy Rosary coach Wendy Orieux. The Raiders had closed the gap to three points with eight minutes left. “At that point the girls had high hopes and we thought we were going to kick the Number 1 team out, but after that they opened up a six-point lead and that just put the fire out on us.” The Raiders included Mary Cavanagh, Erin Cunningham, Molly Cunningham, Alexis Edwards, Jordain Gervais, Amanda Halbach, Brittni Kehler, Arysha Lalach, Tiffany Robertson, Sharissa Schmidt and Kayla Worotniak.
The 6th-seeded Edmonton Christian Lions stunned the 3rd-seeded Magrath Pandas 61-47. The Pandas (coached by Kim Woolf, assisted by Mike Woolf) included Bonnie Balderson, Sarah Balderson, Mikaela Fisher, Jenelle Gieske, Jordan Hansen, Courtney Hillmer, Tara Low, Jenna Perks, Kelsey Scott, Katie Smart and Mikenlee Woolf.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Okotoks Holy Trinity Academy Knights clipped the 7th-seeded Medicine Hat McCoy Colts 70-64. The Colts (coached by Janice Laing, assisted by Stephanie Laing and Jillian Laing) included Kasia Babyn, Kristine Degethoff, Emily King, Alysha Kopec, Mariah Lutz, Nicole Lutz, Kevyn Matsalla, Rachel Matsuka, Shelbie McCrea, Carisa Rembowski and Aspen Valkenburg.
In the semis, the top-seeded Calgary Springbank Community Phoenix crushed the 5th-seeded Wetaskiwin Sabres 63-41. Springbank coach Adonis Palomino said keeping up the tempo on every play helped keep them in the driver’s seat. “One of the things that we do well is when a team scores on us, we really get the ball in quickly and try to score quickly. We never let a team try to get momentum on us or feeling good after a big play.”
In the other semi, the 6th-seeded Edmonton Christian Lions upset the 2nd-seeded Okotoks Holy Trinity Academy Knights 71-67.
In the bronze medal match, the 2nd-seeded Okotoks Holy Trinity Academy Knights whipped the 5th-seeded Wetaskiwin Sabres 73-58. “We are happy about finishing fourth, but we did not play our best,” said Wetaskiwin coach Chuck Hebert. “In the end it was nice to finish in the top four. That is the highest we have ever finished but also was disappointing to not play our best basketball at the end of the year.” The Sabres included Rachel Christenson, Sarah Dick, Jomana Elwenni, Soraya Elwenni, Alyssa Greene, Shea Greene, Brooke Hockin, Tess Krause, Jesslyn Nepoose, Justene Reitsma and Jandra Wells.
In the final, the top-seeded Calgary Springbank Community Phoenix stomped the 6th-seeded Edmonton Christian Lions 59-44 to capture their second consecutive provincial crown. Phoenix coach Adonis Palomino said his troops “were a little out of sync, but our style was there and that paid off. The pressure was just too much for the other teams. We worked from the tip off to the end of the game. We would end up wearing them down at the end of the game, but it was back and forth, every game. … When we were healthy again, that’s where it showed again, we weren’t giving them fast break opportunities, we weren’t letting them inside and forcing them to beat us from the outside and no one got open looks.”
The bronze medalist Okotoks Holy Trinity Academy Knights: Nitanis Bradley; Whitney Bysterveld; Danica Cartier; Kirianna Corwe; Dana Hergott; Jill Johnson; Chantae Karl; Katie Lee; Kelli Lomenda; Michelle Sereda; Barbara Wiegele; assistant Kevin Crawford
The silver medalist Edmonton Christian Lions: Alanna Currie; Leah Dening; Emerey Elzen; Stephanie Kapteyn; Samantha Schuring; Shawnesse Van Sloten; Cassie VanderMaas, Saskia VanGinhoven; Cassie Visscher;
The gold medalist Calgary Springbank Community Phoenix: Allegra Hessels; Sarah Larson; Shanean Ludwar; Kelda Lundmark; Gabby Mercurr; Kristen Monfort-Palomino; Paige Robinson; Taylor Rubert, Bridget Steele; Lora Walsh; coach Adonis Palomino