Skip to content

On Tap

The 3A provincial women’s basketball tournament tips off Friday for the St. Albert Skyhawks at Medicine Hat. At 10 a.m.

The 3A provincial women’s basketball tournament tips off Friday for the St. Albert Skyhawks at Medicine Hat.

At 10 a.m. the metro Edmonton premier conference champion play Thursday’s winner between the Holy Rosary Raiders (northeast) and Eagle Butte Talons (south). A victory would lift the Skyhawks into the medal round.

The Skyhawks (14-0 in premier and 31-5 overall) are seeded first in the 12-team draw. Springbank Phoenix (south central), McCoy Colts (south) and Camrose Trojans (central) round out the top four seeds with first round byes.

Seeded five-through-12 are the Highwood Mustangs (south central), Wetaskiwin Sabres (central), Magrath Pandas (south), Holy Rosary, Eagle Butte, Morinville Lady Wolves (north central), Peace Wapiti Academy Titans (northeast) and the Bishop Carroll Cardinals (Calgary).

The Skyhawks qualified for their sixth straight provincials by winning their fourth consecutive Edmonton zone title. Their highest placing at provincials was bronze in 2008.

The Morinville Wolves were double winners at the north central zone 3A provincial qualifiers by defeating the St. Thomas Aquinas Thunder of Spruce Grove in Saturday’s finals.

For the second year in a row the lady Wolves will hoop it up at provincials after blasting the Thunder 69-38 at Morinville Community High School.

“The first half was a real battle, but in the end we had a little more depth and a little more experience than Spruce Grove,” said coach Kent Lessard. “Our girls were able to keep up the pace for 40 minutes of basketball and as a result started to pull away in the second half.”

In the zone draw the lady Wolves were ranked second and Thunder was third. Morinville advanced to the final by beating the Hilltop Chargers of Whitecourt 84-39 and the Barrhead Gryphons 65-38.

At the 2009 provincials the lady Wolves finished 10th in their first appearance in 10 years.

In the men’s zone final at Spruce Grove, the Wolves posted a convincing 73-43 decision over the home team. Great shooting by Blake Simmons and Luc Mercier, along with a well-orchestrated defence, led the team to victory.

“We had a solid game plan and our players executed it perfectly,” said coach Cliff Rowein. “We had great rebounding by one of our leaders [Kris Tomlinson] and our guys just didn’t quit all game.”

The Wolves and Thunder were ranked first and second, respectively, at zones. Morinville thumped Drayton Valley 77-41 and R.F. Staples of Westlock 79-43 en route to the final.

Provincials start Thursday in Medicine Hat for both Morinville teams. In the men’s draw the Wolves are seeded eighth out of 12 teams. It’s their fourth trip to provincials in six years. They placed fourth in 2008.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks