The 21st annual Optimist Showdown in St. Albert basketball tournament wraps up today at the St. Albert Catholic, Bellerose, Paul Kane and Morinville high schools.
The draw features 16 women’s and 16 men’s teams. Thursday’s results determined the line-ups for the championship and consolation rounds.
The semifinals in the championship bracket start at 10:45 a.m.
The finals tip off at 6:15 p.m. at St. Albert Catholic (women’s championship), Bellerose (men’s championship), Paul Kane (men’s consolation) and Morinville (women’s consolation).
Today at 1:15 p.m. the St. Albert Sabres host the Lloydminster Heat at Akinsdale Arena.
In the north conference, the Sabres (19-6-3) are in second place in their division, two points back of the first-place SSAC Southgate Lions (20-3-3). The Heat (13-11-3) are third in their division.
The Sabres are coming off a 5-2 victory over the KC Squires (6-18-3) Wednesday in St. Albert. Andrew Kary, Tyler Mrkonjic, Zack Gonek, Brett Smythe and Paul Lovsin scored and Patrick Gora stopped 15 shots.
Next month the Sabres have four games on tap before the divisional semifinals start Feb. 15.
The St. Albert Merchants and Morinville Jets hook up Sunday in the Capital Junior B Hockey League. Puck drop is at 2 p.m. at Ray McDonald Sports Centre.
The Jets are 3-0 against their league rivals this season.
On Friday night the Merchants (17-15-0-1) hosted the North Edmonton Red Wings (19-12-0-2), but the score was unavailable at press time.
In the west standings, the Merchants trailed the fourth-place Jets (16-14-0-5) by two points and were three points back of the third-place Spruce Grove Regals (18-14-0-2) with games in hand.
Last weekend the Merchants suffered losses of 4-3 against the Edmonton Mustangs (15-15-0-4) at Bill Hunter Arena and 5-4 against the Sherwood Park Knights (21-13) at Akinsdale Arena. Their record in January is 2-4-0-1.
Next month the Merchants have three games scheduled before the playoffs start.
In team scoring, Chris Clark and Jake Behiels are the top point producers with 37 apiece. Behiels is the leader in goals with 27.
The St. Albert Flyers close out their January schedule in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League with a pair of road games.
The Flyers (19-6) visit the KC Centennials (4-17-5) tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Callingwood Arena and the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers (9-13-4) Sunday at 6:45 p.m.
The Flyers have dropped two in a row after starting the new year with three wins. Their last game was a 7-3 setback in Sherwood Park against the north conference-leading Squires (22-1-4).
