Junior men’s final
The Paul Kane Blues ended the season on a losing note in metro Edmonton division two junior men’s basketball.
Paul Kane was outscored 16-8 in the last quarter of Saturday’s final as the Archbishop Jordan Scots knocked off the 2018 champions 68-56 at Ross Sheppard.
It was 60-48 before Paul Kane’s first points of the quarter was a basket with 5:35 to play.
Carter Walter’s three-point play with 4:24 left pulled Paul Kane to within seven points of the leaders but the Scots responded with two free throws and a basket off a turnover to make it 66-56 with 3:05 to go.
“Their defence just killed us. We could get shots off early and it kind of halted our defence,” said Walter, a Grade 11 shooting guard who piled up 21 points.
The first quarter ended knotted at 19 and the halftime score was 40-30 for the Scots on the strength of three three-pointers.
Paul Kane rallied in the third quarter with three consecutive three-pointers by Keegan Sharpe, Drew Olsen and Walter to even the count at 43.
With under three minutes remaining until quarter time, Olsen’s layup tied it at 45 and the Scots answered with three free throws and a basket to go up by five before the quarter ended with the Scots in front 52-48.
“We came out good in the third but the rest of the game was still constant for us,” said Walter, 16.
Olson finished with 13 points, including three three-balls.
Richard Healy racked up 15 of his 23 points in the second half for the Scots, 12-2 in league play that included the 87-50 season-opening loss at Paul Kane.
The semifinal results were 65-57 Paul Kane (12-2) against the M.E. Lazerte Voyageurs (9-4) and 66-40 Scots against the Bellerose Bulldogs (9-4).
The Paul Kane lineup for the final featured 10 Grade 11s and one Grade 10 in Marshall Missins.
Eight players were also on last year’s team that rallied mightily from a 23-point deficit in the second half after trailing 40-28 at halftime in the 81-72 final against the St. Peter the Apostle Spartans of Spruce Grove. Paul Kane blitzed the Spartans 34-10 in the last quarter as Olsen buried four of the team’s six three-pointers in the last 10 minutes.
As for the pressure surrounding Paul Kane entering the final as the defending champions, “We knew we were the ones that had something to lose and we just lost it,” Walter said.
Junior women’s final
The second loss of the season for the St. Albert Skyhawks in metro Edmonton division two junior women’s basketball was Saturday’s final at Ross Sheppard.
The 51-43 setback to the second-place Archbishop MacDonald Marauders was decided in the fourth quarter. Megan Tchir’s offensive rebound for the Skyhawks in the opening minute tied it at 35 before the Marauders rattled off nine-straight points.
A turnover with 1:59 remaining resulted in a basket for the Marauders to make it 48-39.
A strong first half saw the Skyhawks post leads of 10-7 at quarter time and 24-21 at the break.
An eight-point run by the Marauders to start off the third quarter left the Skyhawks playing catch up before Tchir evened the score in the last 10-minute period.
Rebounding issues plagued the Skyhawks as the final wound down, as well as Mateya Berezowsky’s 11 points in the second half for 15 in total as the Marauders’ top scorer.
Taylor Pukanich posted eight of her team-high 12 points in the second half while Tchir finished with 10 and Megan Lauckner tacked up eight.
Both teams ended league play with 12-2 records and in the regular season the Skyhawks beat the Marauders 61-45 Feb. 12 at the SkyDome.
The semifinal scores were 47-45 Skyhawks against the St. Francis Xavier Rams (9-4) and 47-31 Marauders against the St. Peter the Apostle Spartans (9-4) of Spruce Grove.
Zones for Sturgeon
The Sturgeon Spirits host Thursday’s 3A zone semifinal in metro Edmonton high school women’s basketball.
Tipoff is 5:30 p.m. against Tuesday’s winner between the Oscar Romero Ravens and Beaumont Bandits.
The St. Peter the Apostle Spartans of Spruce Grove are seeded first in the six-team zones.
Provincials are March 14 to 16 at Athabasca.
The third Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association rankings of the season listed the Spartans third, Morinville Wolves fifth, Sturgeon sixth and the Ravens 10th.
In the metro Edmonton division two playoffs, the Spartans (11-2) lost the final 52-31 to the O’Leary Spartans (12-1) and in the quarter-finals Sturgeon (7-4) fell 73-59 to the Memorial Marauders (8-4) of Stony Plain and the Ravens (6-6) dropped a 58-39 decision to the St. Francis Xavier Rams (9-3).
Last year Sturgeon won the division two championship while going 12-1 in league play and in its provincial debut as the zone finalists placed 10th as the No. 6 seed for an overall season record of 26-7.
Sturgeon is the host team for the 2020 provincials.
North Central zones
The Morinville Wolves are seeded first in the men’s and women’s draws in the North Central zone basketball championships this weekend.
The Morinville men are hosting zones and the lady Wolves are competing in Drayton Valley.
In the men’s draw, Morinville plays the No. 4 Hilltop Chargers of Whitecourt or the No. 5 R.F. Staples Thunderbirds of Westlock in Friday’s 3:15 p.m. semifinal.
Saturday the third-place game is 10:45 a.m. and the final is 2:15 p.m.
The No 2. Parkland Pacers, No. 3 Barrhead Gryphons, No. 6 Frank Maddock Warriors and No. 8 Edwin Parr Predators of Athabasca are also competing at zones.
Visit www.mchs.gsacrd.ab.ca for the draw times and results.
The winner advances to the 3A provincials March 14 to 16 at Brooks.
Morinville, the defending zone champion, is 20-5 as the winner of three out of five finals in six tournaments.
At last year’s provincials, Morinville finished 10th out of 12 teams for a 16-12 season after starting out 1-6.
Saturday’s semifinal for the lady Wolves is 10 a.m. against No. 4 R.F. Staples or No. 5 Barrhead.
The tournament includes No. 2 Parkland, No. 3 Edwin Parr and No. 6 Frank Maddock.
The third-place game is 3:15 p.m. and the final is 5 p.m.
The zone champion will compete at the 3A provincials March 14 to 16 at Athabasca.
The Wolves are 19-7 as the defending zone champions and at provincials last year placed sixth as the No. 7 seed for an overall mark of 21-10 with their best 3A showing since finishing fifth three years ago.
