In the opening round, held in Camrose: …………………………………………………… The Wetaskiwin Composite Sabres whipped the St. Paul Regional Saints 76-48. The Saints included Leigha Bishop, Julie Chomlak, Randi Drummond, Bailey Dufour-Quinney, Chelsey Enriquez, Chanelle Gagne, Monique Gervais, Elizabeth Grant, Lindy Harrison, Nicole Kitt, Hailey Mahdiuk, Brooke Mulkay, Madi Novakowski, Teisha Ouelette and Katy Wuchopen. …………………………………………………… The Camrose Composite Trojans stomped the Lethbridge Sir Winston Churchill Griffins 72-53. The Griffins included Brooke French, Courtney Gatzky, Megan Giesbrecht, Ryanna Kritzer, Jacey Lastuka, Caylee Leavitt, Brie Leclaire, Maddie Lee, Taylor Luchanski and Bailey Osberg. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Taber W.R. Myers Rebels clipped the 11th-seeded Grande Prairie St. Joseph Catholic Ceinahs 70-54. The Ceinahs included Kendel Alstad, Emma Broderick, Chelsea Deblois, Allison Dettling, Emily Devlin, Nicole Hobbins, Desiree Knutson, Taylor Maton, Shaelyne Paul, Shayla Turner and Hailey Winnicky-Lewis. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Calgary Springbank Community Phoenix dumped the Athabasca Edwin Parr Angels 55-40. The Angels, coached by Wade Hicks, included Gen Annand, Briana Bilsky, Katelyn Crest, Jackie Elgert, Tara Gustafson, Shania Laforce, Mikaela Minkus, Brooke Padlewski, Leaha Pichota, Janaya Reimer, Alex Speers, Sarah Windeler and Amy Zacharuk.
In the quarterfinals, the Edmonton Christian Lions dispatched the Wetaskiwin Composite Sabres 56-46. The Sabres included Hannah Ballhorn, Molly Ballhorn, Nikki Dubland, Robyn Hebert, Mariah Hockin, Emily Hunerfauth, Emma Krause, Diane Orian, Alex Wilson and Taylor Zablocki.
The top-seeded Medicine Hat Monsignor McCoy Colts dumped the Camrose Composite Trojans 78-54 as Mikayla Fritzke scored 21 and Dakota Schacher 18, while Marni MacKay nabbed 12 boards. The Trojans led 51-50 after three quarters. The Trojans included Jesalyn Clarkson, Bailey Debman, Emilie Kerr, Braidi Lorenz, Kristen Lyster, Hallee Peter, Christie Pilger, Taryn Prestage, Jordyn Riexenger, Jenya Rust and Skylar Syrnyk.
The 3rd-seeded Okotoks Holy Trinity Knights clipped the Taber W.R. Myers Rebels 72-63. “It was closer than the score indicated where we had to foul a lot at the end. They are a pressure team where we had a couple of lapses and they went on some runs,” said Myers coach Kendon Bennett. “We couldn’t quite reel them back in. Another big thing that was something that hurt us was we missed some easy tuck ins and lay ups that we couldn’t convert on. It was a winnable game, it was a team effort where they just made a couple more plays than we did.” Melissa Bass paced the Knights with 22 points and 9 boards. Kylie Pozniak added 16 points and seven rebounds and Riley Pearson chipped in 11. Bianca Gansner scored 19 and nabbed 12 boards to lead the Rebels. Brittany Hoyt added 18 points, 12 rebounds and six steals. Kennedy Renner added 9 and 9 boards. The Rebels, coached by Kendon Bennett, included Gabby Bertoia, Bianca Gansner, Brittany Hoyt, Laryssa Kurtz, Stephanie Martens, Courtney Moser, Kennedy Renner, Dionne Sawatzky and Kelsie Wood.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded St. Albert Catholic Skyhawks annihilated the 7th-seeded Calgary Springbank Community Phoenix 75-28. Kendall Lydon paced the Skyhawks with 16. Haley England added 13 and Paige Knull 11. The Phoenix included Lauren Armeneau, Alexandra Bean, Jessica Blust, Kamryn Brown, Izzy Carrigan, Taylor Crumb, Alex Hayvren, Hannah Medwid and Maya Parker.
In the semis, the 2nd-seeded St. Albert Catholic Skyhawks whipped the 3rd-seeded Okotoks Holy Trinity Knights 81-40 as Kendall Lydon scored 25, Haley England 12 and Paige Knull 12, along with 12 boards. Katie Burak ripped down 11 boards and Kayla Ivicak 10. Melissa Bass paced the Knights with 15. Ryan Kennedy added 8 points and 10 boards. “They’re a better team than us, they have a lot more talent and we went into that game thinking maybe we can be the Lehigh of the girl’s tournament, like Lehigh upset Duke (in the NCAA Final Four),” said Holy Trinity coach Ken Power said. “We played well it was 9-9 and then unfortunately they went on a 13-0 run and built up a lead at the end of the first quarter. We played them pretty even in the second and third quarters, they outscored us by four in the second and three in the third. They were too good of a team and we couldn’t come back, but the girls worked hard and did well.”
HTA guard Melissa Bass was the only Knight to hit double digits in scoring with 15 points, while forward Ryan Kennedy added eight points and 10 rebounds.
In the other semi, the top-seeded Medicine Hat Monsignor McCoy Colts stomped the Edmonton Christian Lions 82-48 as Mikayla Fritzke and Jessica Kuntz each scored 21, while Courtney Rozdeba nabbed 12 rebounds.
In the bronze medal match, the Edmonton Christian Lions clubbed the 3rd-seeded Okotoks Holy Trinity Knights 64-41. The Knights offensive efficiency let them down in the third-place final as HTA shot just 17 per cent from the field and 13 per cent from behind the arc. Guard Riley Pearson said the Knights build themselves an early hole they couldn’t score themselves out of. “During that game they were just making all their shots from the outside and with their offence they were driving to the hoop a lot and they made all of their lay ups. That didn’t really help us that much.” Power said “our goal was to come in and get third, I’d be disappointed if we didn’t work hard or play hard in the final game, but the girls played hard all the way through. We just couldn’t make baskets. We had 81 shots in the game, we rebounded well and in the second half especially we played good defence, but when the shots aren’t falling there is not much you can do.” Melissa Bass led the offensive charge with 19 points and nine rebounds while Kylie Pozniak and Kalisse Barwich were forces under the basket with 10 boards each. The Knights included Kalisse Barwich, Melissa Bass, Kathryn Dolan, Anya Farmer, Charissa Hielema, Ryan Kennedy, Kennedy Kilcommons, Kyra Lindenbach, Riley Pearson, Kylie Pozniak, Ricki Thiessen and Claire Thorimbert.
In the final, the 2nd-seeded St. Albert Catholic Skyhawks edged the top-seeded Medicine Hat McCoy Colts 68-64 to capture their third consecutive provincial title. “It’s never been done in history (three consecutive titles at the AAA level). It’s really amazing what we’ve done,” said co-captain Kendall Lydon. “I’m so excited right now. My adrenaline is pumping. This is the best feeling ever.” The Skyhawks also avenged two tournament losses to McCoy during the regular season. “It really fuelled our fire and got us going. It made winning tonight that much more sweeter,” said co-captain Katie Burak. “We’ve been focusing on this game and building towards it ever since we knew we were going to provincials and right from the beginning, our determination set the tone for the rest of the game.” Co-captain Zoe Downing added that “we went into the final really mentally prepared. We knew they would fight hard and that’s what we did, too.” The Skyhawks opened the scoring with four field goals before McCoy pulled even with 2:08 left in the first quarter. Haley England’s three-point play in the last minute before quarter time put the Skyhawks up by five. The Grade 12 Skyhawk dominated the paint for nine points in the first quarter and then dropped in 10 in the next quarter. She finished the game with a team-high 26 points. “It’s my job to finish when my teammates give me great passes and when I was open, they would give me the ball,” England said. In the second quarter the Skyhawks scored eight unanswered points to lead by 11 and went into the half-time break in control at 34-22. The undefeated metro Edmonton premier champions threatened to pull away after a three-pointer by Downing and Amber Easthope’s layup during a 19-second span to extend the lead to 17 with 2:12 gone in the third quarter. Four minutes later, Lydon nailed a three-pointer to widen the gap to 46-34. Before the period ended, Lydon’s acrobatic layup and Burak’s extra effort to convert an offensive rebound in the low post maintained the Skyhawks’ healthy lead. In the last quarter, McCoy outscored the rattled Skyhawks 14-6 to knot the score at 56 with 5:12 remaining. “They came right back and they were pounding it. You could tell they wanted it,” Downing said. “The second it became tied, that pushed us forward to go out and take it from them because we wanted it just as bad as they did.” Easthope put the Skyhawks ahead to stay by converting a steal at mid-court into a layup. After a stop by the Skyhawks, Paige Knull drained a shot before the shot clock expired to make it 60-56 with 3:57. Three times McCoy pulled to within two of the Skyhawks, but Lydon replied twice for baskets and set up England once to restore the four-point advantage. “We kept our composure against a pretty good team,” Lydon said. A turnover allowed McCoy to cut the lead in half with 26.8 seconds on the clock. Lydon was later fouled and she sank the first of two free throws to make it a three-point spread. After McCoy was called for travelling in the Skyhawks’ zone, Easthope was fouled and the Grade 11 guard hit the second free throw with 7.3 seconds to go to seal the win. “It was crucial and I’m really glad I made it,” Easthope said. “It was so exciting how it ended. There were a lot of highs and lows. They battled and we battled. It was just a great team effort to win it at the end. We couldn’t have ended it any better.” Lydon finished the final with 17 points. Easthope chipped in with 13 and Downing celebrated her 18th birthday with seven. “This is the best feeling in the world. Not only to be 18, that’s kind of sweet, but then to three-peat is absolutely unreal,” Downing said. England said “we didn’t want anybody else in the final but McCoy. They’re great competition and it’s always a good game because they make us work for stuff. Shooting-wise and driving-wise McCoy is just as good as we are, but when it comes to hustling and being a team, that’s what we have over them.” The Skyhawks finished 34-6 on the season. “We won as a team and that’s what got us here,” England said. Coach John Dedrick said “we have to be considered one of the elite programs in the province, given our success against 4A competition in league play as well as tournament play. We’ve built a tradition here at St. Albert Catholic High School and we hope to continue and help grow and maintain that for as long as we can.” A lengthy list of accomplishments includes two undefeated metro Edmonton premier conference seasons. This year marked the eighth consecutive provincials for the Skyhawks and the sixth year in a row they qualified as the Edmonton zone champions. “It all started eight years ago with the Meghan Martynas and the Megan Hogendoorns and the Caitlin Marshalls and having those sets of parents buy into my kind of style of coaching,” said Dedrick. “There are a lot of girls’ teams that the parents and players would not be to handle the way that I get on the players and some of the stuff we do in practice where we’re aggressive and loud and physical. Those parents all bought into that and it’s just grown from there and so have the expectations. “That laid the groundwork for me to do the things I felt were right like spring league, go to Gonzaga in the summer and talk to kids that want to play basketball and say, ‘Hey, I think we have a really good program and if you’re interested in coming here this is what we can offer you’.” Last season Haley England joined the Skyhawks after playing for the Morinville Lady Wolves in Grade 10 and was a major contributor to the team’s success as provincial champions. “I’m so glad I decided to become a Skyhawk. I wasn’t the player I am now since I came to coach Dedrick’s team. He works so hard and he gives you that extra time. [Assistant coach] Paige Gaudreau also gives you that extra time,” England said. “The program is simply great. It’s a family and it’s a commitment, but it’s the best commitment you will ever give.” Gaudreau is a former Alberta Colleges’ Athletic Association all-star with Augustana University College who joined the Skyhawks three seasons ago. “I cannot underestimate the impact Paige has had. She was a point guard at an elite level and sees the game from almost a different view point than I do,” Dedrick said. “We tease each other about being Yin and Yang and it truly is that because we bounce ideas off each other all the time. She has full access to anything that we do. She runs drills. She will take a time out. She will draw up plays. It really is a team effort in terms of coaching and I’m lucky to have her.” Dedrick added that the win over the Colts was difficult “because we have a lot of respect for McCoy. They’re really kind of a mirrored version of ourselves. We’re probably a little bit physically stronger but they’re taller. We do a lot of the same things and have had a lot of the same successes so to be able to meet them in the final two years in a row and be able to come away with victories is a huge accomplishment for us. … We knew they’re going to make runs so it’s how you respond that will probably make or break the rest of the game and we showed great mental toughness to come out with the win.”
The bronze medalist Edmonton Christian Lions: Brianna Aukema; Melissa Bird; Kristy Bootsma; Rachel Gleddie; Leah Gurnett; Aimee Prinsen; Kate Rozendaal; Meghan Rozendaal; Jamie Stobart; Jenna VandenBoogaard; Leah VandenBoogaard;
The silver medalist Medicine Hat McCoy Colts: Alexandra Dooley; Danielle Fritzke; Mikayla Fritzke; Victoria King; Jessica Kuntz; Marni Mackay; Cierra Matsalla; Courtney Rozdeba; Dakota Schacher; Kennedy Were;
The champion St. Albert Catholic Skyhawks: Katie Burak; Petra Catarig; Zoe Downing; Amber Easthope; Haley England; Jade Fisher; Kayla Ivicak; Paige Knull; Kendall Lydon; Lauren Walter; Hayley Warmington; coach John Dedrick; assistant Paige Gaudreau