The result was secondary to the upcoming playoffs for the teams involved in Monday’s rivalry game in high school women’s basketball.
The St. Albert Skyhawks have seven games remaining to duplicate last year’s monumental championship journey as the metro Edmonton division one winners and 4A provincial gold medallists after breezing past the Paul Kane Blues 96-45.
“We’re so excited. We’re so ready. This is what we’ve been building for the whole season,” said Kamryn DeKlerk, one of several standouts with the 28-1 Skyhawks following the 22nd consecutive victory in league and tournament action.
“We just keep our values in mind all the time,” DeKlerk said of the team’s near-perfect season. “We hold ourselves accountable all the time.”
Paul Kane (6-4) has one game left before the playoffs and a victory against the O’Leary Spartans (5-5) tonight at 5:30 p.m. would help determine home-court advantage in Monday’s quarter-finals.
“Honestly, this is good momentum for us. Hopefully we’ll go into O’Leary and go at them just as hard as we did against SACHS,” said Raeesa Cherniwchan, a highly regarded Grade 12 forward with the 16-9 Blues.
Losing by 51 to the powerhouse St. Albert Catholic High School team instead of the 77-point margin of defeat in the 111-34 final of the Mike Dea Classic on Nov. 30 at St. Francis Xavier High School was a morale booster for Paul Kane.
“It was a big improvement. We wanted of course to get better the second time we played them and we did do that. It was very good for everyone on the team,” Cherniwchan said.
Holding the Skyhawks to less than 100 points – the No. 1-ranked 4A team in the province had averaged 94.6 points in 10 league games while surpassing the 100 mark four times – was another positive for Paul Kane, listed as an honourable mention in the 4A rankings.
“We wanted keep with them and keep working hard no matter what and that was kind of our goal for this game,” Cherniwchan said. “It was all about effort and rebounding and just the things that we can control.”
The Skyhawks host the eighth-place division one team Monday at 5:30 p.m. after finishing 11-0 in the regular season.
The semifinals are March 4 and the final is March 7 at 5 p.m. at Ross Sheppard High School.
A division one three-peat would further entrench the Skyhawks as the top seed in the 16-team provincials, March 19 to 21 at Lethbridge.
It’s also the swan-sang for DeKlerk, Teá DeMong and Mimi Sigue as senior Skyhawks.
“This is the end so we’re just excited to give it everything because it's our last run,” said DeKlerk of the trio with the 2018 provincial bronze medallists while going 29-7 overall and last year’s 30-5 Skyhawks as winners of the first 4A provincial championship by a St. Albert women’s basketball team.
Last year’s Skyhawks wrapped up their historic season with 22 wins in a row and in league play were 13-0.
“Our high school careers have been pretty exceptional in comparison to what a lot of us expected coming into high school so it’s going to be difficult walking away from this, but we're ready to move on and we’re ready to teach the people that are going to be staying back for a couple of more years all that we know, and we’re ready to watch them carry on the legacy after us,” said DeKlerk, one of eight returning Skyhawks on the 11-player roster that includes five Grade 11s and three Grade 10s.
Done deal
The outcome against Paul Kane was never in doubt as a suffocating defence and whiz-bang ball movement allowed the Skyhawks to compile leads of 25-11 at the end of a somewhat erratic first quarter, 46-19 at halftime an 68-34 after three quarters.
The Skyhawks closed out the opening period with 11 unanswered points, including seven in the last minute.
The score ballooned to 31-13 when Cherniwchan nailed a three-pointer with about six minutes left until halftime.
Three of the four three-pointers by the Skyhawks in the first half were deposited by Annacy Palmer.
Skyhawks' rookie Maya Flindall produced 11 of her 19 points in the second half.
Sigue was a mighty force in the low post for the bulk of her 18 points while drawing fouls and reeling in rebounds.
Palmer finished with 15 points and four three-balls, DeMong turned in a quiet 11-point performance and Morgan Harris chipped in with nine points.
“It was a slow start, but we came ready to play in the second half and that’s kind of where we got the difference from. We just kept pushing,” said DeKlerk, who contributed 10 points and the first of her two three-pointers made it 40-16 with 3:04 left until the break.
Cherniwchan led all scorers with 22 points while driving the Paul Kane offence in the first half with 14.
“I was excited. I love playing against good competitors and great girls. They're all super nice and super sweet,” said Cherniwchan, arguably the best female basketball player in St. Albert not playing for the Skyhawks.
Gaulden’s moment
In a classy move, Paul Kane subbed on the injured Bella Gaulden and the Grade 12 player in her No. 3 jersey was given a clear path to dribble the ball toward the hoop for a flip shot that put the score at 88-43 with 2:21 to play.
The basket triggered a mighty roar from the standing-room only crowd as the Skyhawks joined in the applause.
Paul Kane then called a timeout as the Blues mobbed Gaulden upon her return to the bench.
Gaulden suffered a season-injury at the Mike Dea Classic and it was only fitting on Senior Night she would score the last basket of her high school career in her home gym against the Skyhawks.
“It’s pretty emotional,” said Cherniwchan, a third-year senior along with Kayleena Garda, Chelsea Marko and Gaulden. “It’s bittersweet to be graduating with this last stretch of high school basketball left, but it was really exciting to have her score two points. I was just really happy to have her on the court with me one last time.”
DeKlerk, 17, noted the respect level between the two teams is higher than what others would suggest.
“It’s always a fiery game, but everybody knows each other so we all have good sportsmanship toward each other and we all love each other and that was especially true with Bella. We loved watching that and to have both sides cheering for her was great to see,” said DeKlerk, who is committed to the University of Calgary Dinos next season.
FLOORED - Liz Salcedo, left, of the Paul Kane Blues and Morgan Harris of the St. Albert Skyhawks hit the hardwood battling for a loose ball in Monday's metro Edmonton division one match. The Skyhawks won 96-45 at Paul Kane. The Skyhawks, last year's 4A provincial gold medallists and division one playoff winners, are 11-0 in league play and 28-1 overall as the No. 1-ranked 4A team in the province. Paul Kane is 6-4 in division one and 16-9 overall as a 4A honourable mention.CHRIS COLBOURNE/St. Albert Gazette
