Round one in the battle between St. Albert's premier women's basketball rivals ended in victory for the Skyhawks against the Paul Kane Blues.
The number-one ranked 3A team in Alberta defeated the eighth-ranked 4A team 50-39 in front of a packed Paul Kane gym Monday night.
"It's a great win," said a smiling Zoe Downing, a Grade 11 guard who lit up the Blues with five three-pointers in the first half as the Skyhawks led 30-19 at the break. "We've been anticipating this game. We were nervous, but we were ready to play them."
The Skyhawks improved to 6-1 in the metro Edmonton league and 9-7 overall after the low scoring, turnover-plagued affair. The Blues are 5-1 in premier.
"We didn't go in thinking it's going to be a walk in the park. We knew we had to come out hard because they are a lot stronger," said Downing, the game's top scorer with 19 points.
The 2010 3A provincial gold medallists and metro league champions out-hustled and out-rebounded the Blues. They were outstanding defensively against a taller and deeper line-up.
"Throughout the whole game we played pretty intense," Downing said. "We focused on playing really tough defence. We played a lot of full court and that's why the turnovers were there.
"We also focused on our talking, knowing where our help was and who is denying the ball and who is on the ball. Just having all that talk made it easier to play defence and I think that's what truly won us the game."
Defensive demons
The tenacious Skyhawks not only gave the Blues fits with their high-octane pressure defence, they dominated the paint with the resilient Paige Knull, a Grade 10 standout, and Grade 11 newcomer Haley England doing the bulk of the grunt work against Paul Kane's big forwards.
"They keyed on who our players were and they really crammed down into the key, which is where our strong point is. They really forced us to play a game that we're not used to playing," said a disappointed Kelly Fagan, captain of the Blues. "The sad part is we were prepared for what they were going to do and we still didn't defend against it as well as we were hoping to."
After letting an early lead slip away on back-to-back threes by Downing late in the first quarter to put the Skyhawks ahead 14-11, the Blues were forced to play from behind for the rest of the match. After the Blues pulled to within one in the second quarter, England buried two foul shots to give the Skyhawks breathing room.
"We were pretty neck-and-neck the entire game. When they first got up by 10 points at the end of the second quarter, that was probably the biggest turning point in the game. We tried to bring back that lead and we did a couple of times but we could never get it back fully," Fagan said.
An eight-point run by the Blues before the halfway mark in the third quarter cut the deficit to five. They outscored the Skyhawks 10-5 in the period as the teams combined for more turnovers than your average Knights of Columbus house league game.
In the fourth quarter, and the Skyhawks up 37-31, Brittney Scott of the Blues stuffed Haley Warmington on a layup that drew a loud roar from the Paul Kane fans.
Less than a minute later, Shelby Hucul nailed a difficult jumper from a sweet spot in front of the Skyhawks' bench that left her teammates cheering in delight.
With the Blues in major foul trouble, England and Kendall Lydon sank a pair of free throws apiece and Amber Easthope added another from the line to increase the Skyhawks' advantage to 10 points with 3:49 to play.
A superb individual effort in the low post by Knull for a basket after reeling in a rebound sealed the deal at 48-37 with 1:59 remaining. Her overall point total was seven, but reached double digits in rebounds.
England finished the game with nine points and Easthope chipped in with six. Hucul's tireless performance at point guard was another big factor in the victory.
"Different people stepped up in different quarters. It was just all around a good team effort," said Downing, 16.
After gunning three three-pointers and a basket in the first quarter, Downing rattled the Blues with a pair of long bombs with less than three minutes left until halftime.
"Once I know they're going in, I have that confidence to keep pushing for more," she said.
Disappointing loss
As for the Blues, Scott was the top scorer with 10 and Allie Larson added eight.
"We definitely could've beat them if we had done a couple of things differently but next time we will," said Fagan, 17, a six-foot-one Grade 12 post who was limited to four points on baskets in the first and fourth quarters while mired in fouls.
In the biggest game so far this season the Blues didn't play up to their vast potential. Their five wins equalled the last two seasons' combined totals when they failed to qualify for the playoffs. Overall, the team is 9-3.
"It was a real learning experience for us," Fagan said. "A lot of our players were not mentally where they should have been coming into it. There has been a big rivalry between the two schools for quite awhile. You have to get mentally prepared for it and we weren't quite where we should've been. In future games we'll be more ready for what's coming from them."
If everything goes according to plan, the premier contenders will cross paths at the Jan. 27 to 29 Optimist Showdown in St. Albert tournament. They also have a league game scheduled Feb. 16 at the SkyDome. And, if the 4A top-ranked O'Leary Spartans continue their undefeated ways, the Skyhawks and Blues will fight it out for second spot and home court advantage in the March 2 premier semifinals.
"When we play them next time we'll be more prepared. Hopefully we're going to see them quite a few times," said Fagan, a provincial team player in her third season with the senior Blues.
Because of the exam break, league play resumes Jan. 31.
