In the interzone playoffs: …………………………………………………… In the semis, the Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans stomped the Neepawa Tigers 72-28 after leading 40-16 at the half. Sarah Lopes paced the Spartans with 22. Lee-Anne Featherstone added 16, Jessica Decter 14 and Allyson Menzies 10. Heather Denoon led the Tigers with 10. …………………………………………………… In the final, the Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans defeated the Swan River Swan Valley Tigers 61-56 as Lee-Anne Featherstone scored 27 and Sarah Lopes 16. The Tigers led 28-21 at the half. Brittnye Kroeker led the Tigers with 18.
In the wildcard game, the St. Norbert Celtics nipped the Portage Pats 50-49.
In the provincial quarterfinals, held in Swan River, the top-seeded Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans defeated the 8th-seeded Winnipeg Linden Christian Wings 62-46. Neelin led 29-19 at the half.
The 6th-seeded St. Norbert Celtics upset the 3rd-seeded Portage La Prairie Arthur Meighen Saints 48-40. The Saints led 17-12 at the half. The Saints (coached by Marie Rohleder and Doug Jackson) included Carrie McMullen, Jamal
Houle, Kaleigh Will, Lana Dubois, Nicole McMullen, Bobbi Yaremchuk, Amanda Neufeld, Kayla Mitchell, Andrea Wiens and
Jenna Henuset.
The 4th-seeded Swan River Swan Valley Tigers dumped the 5th-seeded Winnipeg Pierre-Elliott Trudeau Canadians 63-47. The Tigers led 26-21 at the half. Brittnye Kroeker led the Tigers with 17. Sarah Alford added 15. Amanda Myall led the Canadians with 23.
In the last quarterfinal, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg St. John’s Ravenscourt Eagles dumped the 7th-seeded Thompson R.D. Parker Trojans 54-35. The Eagles led 32-16 at the half.
In the semi-finals, the 4th-seeded Swan River Swan Valley Tigers stunned the top-seeded Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans 57-51. The Spartans led by 15 early and by 28-16 at the half but the Tigers rallied to avenge a five-point loss a week earlier. “It was an amazing feeling,” guard Halle Eggie told the Swan River Star & Times. “It was absolutely wonderful to beat the No. 1-ranked team because they’ve been No. 1 at provincials for the last four years and we took them out of it.” Eggie scored 17. “The crowd really pumped us up,” she said. “It’s a great feeling when the whole crowd is rooting for you and when a shot goes in.” Kroeker led the Tigers with 18. Alford and Stewart each added 8. Sarah Lopes led Neelin with 12. Jessica Decter added 10. “We played the role of a giant killer,” said co-coach Ryan Maksymchuk, “(Neelin) is who everyone has been trying to beat and we did it. There were a lot of happy faces after that game.”
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg St. John’s Ravenscourt Eagles edged the 6th-seeded St. Norbert Celtics 41-35. The Eagles led 23-12 at the half.
In the bronze medal match, the top-seeded Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans defeated the 6th-seeded St. Norbert Celtics 61-50. The Spartans led 29-13 at the half. The Celtics included Oge Asagwara, Jennifer Whitney.
In the final, the 2nd-seeded Winnipeg St. John’s Ravenscourt Eagles defeated the 4th-seeded Swan River Swan Valley Tigers 55-37. The Eagles led 30-17 at the half. Angie Griffith led the Eagles with 22. Kirsten Mundle added 11. It took 5.5 minutes for the Tigers to hit a field goal and they missed their last nine shots to end the first half. The Tigers cut the lead to seven with eight minutes to play, but drew no closer. “We played our hearts out,” Tiger guard Halle Eggie told the Swan River Star & Times. Eggie led the Tigers with 12. Sarah Alford added 8 and Brittnye Kroeker 8. “It’s disappointing, but things just didn’t work out for us today. As coach (Kevin) Carter said to us at the end though, if we had said at the start of the season we would be in the finals at provincials, a lot of people would not have believed us. … They hit a lot of shots and we didn’t. We couldn’t get the ball to bounce in. We worked our tails off and gave ourselves the opportunities, but couldn’t get the bounces. Give (the Eagles) credit, they are a great team and we knew it was going to be tough. It’s tough to get to the provincial final let alone win it and we’re proud of our team. Finishing second in the province is nothing to be ashamed of.”
The bronze medalist Brandon T.A. Neelin Spartans: Allyson Menzies; Sarah Lopes; Andrea Spence; Kirsten Lawson; Jessica Decter; Jackie Stevens; Meghan Booth; Tiersa Kejick; Danielle Couturier; Lee-Anne Featherstone; Sairene Boyd; Jessie Beth McCannnell; Nichole Ragush; Stephanie Lacey-Avon; Alise Gaiser; coach Michael Hill; coach Karen More; coach Harry Crossin; manager Bobbie Bobiak
The silver medalist Swan River Swan Valley Tigers: Brittnye Kroeker; Hallie Eggie; Savanna Webb; Whitney Fried; Melissa Johnson; Kayla Wai; Lindsay Buchanan; Courtnee Stewart; Marcie Schabert; Kristin Hart; Jessica Maxwell; Ali Maidy; Sarah Alford; Darby Branconnier; Kelsey Hart; coach Ryan Maksymchuck; coach Kevin Carter; manager Lindsey Gray
The gold medalist Winnipeg St. John’s Ravenscourt Eagles: Clarise Mare; Angie Griffith; Kirsten Mundle; Britney Winter; Anna Stewart; Katie Boyd; Cara Isaak; Sam Wong; Leah Gardner; Kirsten Newfield; Taylor Rusnak; Zahrah Ali; coach Jody Rock; assistant Kelly Heape