The St. Albert Skyhawks continued their domination of the Paul Kane Blues in premier women's basketball with a 21-point margin of victory Wednesday.
The number-one ranked 3A team in Alberta pounded the Blues 22-5 in the first quarter and led by a commanding 30 points at halftime, en route to their third triumph this year against Paul Kane.
"We really wanted this game. They're our rivals," said Shelby Hucul, the Skyhawks' co-captain, after the 66-45 decision at the SkyDome. "We came out pretty prepared. In the first half especially we were giving it our all. We worked our butts off and pretty much played our game; pushing the ball up the court, playing tough defence and helping our teammates."
The Blues lost it in the first half by scoring only 10 points.
"We weren't running the floor. They transitioned us like crazy and we just couldn't keep up," said Allie Larson, the top scorer for Paul Kane with 15 points.
In the opening 20 minutes the Blues hit only three field goals against a suffocating Skyhawks defence. They also shot 4-for-14 from the foul line.
The slow start was on par with last month's effort against the Skyhawks. In premier action, the Blues fell behind 30-19 at the break and lost by 11 at Paul Kane. In the Optimist Showdown tournament final in St. Albert, the Blues got blown out 24-8 in the second quarter and trailed by 22 at halftime. They eventually lost by 13.
"We get a little bit overwhelmed when we play them. We think too much about it before the game. We get a little nervous, we get a little off our game and it takes a little while to get back into it," said Larson, a gritty Grade 12 forward.
Second-half Blues
Down 40-10 at halftime, the Blues had nowhere to go but up. With the game already a done deal, they outscored the Skyhawks 21-10 in the third quarter to make the final result look somewhat respectable.
"We won the second half," Larson said. "We looked into where they were beating us and started picking apart certain parts of their offence, but it was more of a specific defensive focus kind of thing that we did."
In the last period Paul Kane tacked 14 points, two less than the Skyhawks.
"In the second half we let it go a little bit but we still managed to keep the lead," Hucul said.
Early in the fourth quarter, things got interesting when the father of a Paul Kane player was punted out of the gym by one of the referees for questioning the calibre of officiating.
After the game, head coach John Dedrick and assistant Paige Gaudreau staged a lengthy meeting with the Skyhawks behind closed doors. After they left the room, the door was quickly shut behind them as the players held their own get-together to hash things out.
When quizzed why the Skyhawks were taking so long after a win to make themselves available for interviews, Dedrick shrugged his big shoulders and said with a frown: "They have a few things to work out."
The Blues had already left the building when the Skyhawks finally exited through a back door to their change room.
Hucul admitted the Skyhawks weren't that thrilled with their second-half performance.
"We could've done some things better, like boxing out and rebounding," said the third-year player.
Kendall Lydon sank 11 of her team-high 16 points in the first half. Her only three-ball in the game made it 16-3 in the first quarter.
Zoe Downing also drained 11 points in the first half and 14 overall. In the second quarter she nailed a pair of three-balls. Her third three-pointer put the Skyhawks up 55-33 with 4:57 to play.
Haley England added nine points and Hucul had eight.
England, Katie Burak and Paige Knull also played tough D for lengthy stretches in the match against Paul Kane's most dangerous forwards.
After going pointless in the first half, Kelly Fagan tossed in 10 points for the Blues. The tall post also swatted the ball away from Amber Easthope and Burak with mighty rejections under the basket.
Brittney Scott tallied nine of her 10 points after halftime. The rugged forward also got into several tussles for the ball with the scrappy Skyhawks.
Playoff preview
With the playoffs looming on the horizon, it's a good bet the Skyhawks (12-1) and Blues (8-4) will renew their rivalry in the March 3 semifinal at the SkyDome.
"We still have more games to win before that but if it happens we'll be a little more ready for it than we were today," said Larson, 17, who knocked down 10 points in the second half. "We just need to start playing right from the start of the game and if we do that we'll be all right."
The Skyhawks would love to hoop it up in the playoffs against the Blues, who dropped from eighth in the latest 4A rankings to an honourable mention.
"We'll definitely be willing and able to play them again," Hucul said. "We'll come out and play a hard game and hopefully we'll win."
The odds are heavily stacked against the Blues after three losses to the 2010 3A provincial gold medallists and metro Edmonton premier champions.
"We put out 100 per cent effort every time we play them, we just haven't had quite the focus that we had in the second half today," said Larson, a transfer student from the John Maland Wildcats from Devon. "I wouldn't say we're disheartened after this loss but maybe disappointed. It gives us a little more incentive to come out next time and play harder."
Wednesday's win was the 26th in 27 games in premier for the Skyhawks, dating back to the 2009/10 regular season. Their overall record this season is 22-7
"We're doing pretty good. Last year was great, too," Hucul said of the 34-5 Skyhawks last season. "It's just different players with different skill levels this year, but we're about the same as last year."
Next week, first place is on the line when the Skyhawks visit the Spartans (12-0) Wednesday at 4:45 p.m. They would have to beat the Spartans by more than seven points to finish first through the tiebreaker formula. Last month the Spartans dumped the Skyhawks 72-65 at the SkyDome.
"We're just going to play our game and work our butts off. We've got to keep up with our principles of how we play ball," Hucul said. "We have to box out a lot and rebound and push the ball like we usually do. We've also got to be ready for Adut [Bulgak, a standout Grade 12 post] too."
Signed by Pandas
Hucul, a talented Grade 12 point guard with a tireless worth ethic, is the latest in a long line of Skyhawks to earn a post-secondary basketball scholarship. The 17-year-old was heavily recruited by schools from inside and outside the province before committing to the Alberta Pandas.
"I thought it was the best fit so I could play at home," said arguably the Skyhawks' most valuable player. "I'm glad I have made a decision. I don't really have to worry about my schooling and stuff like that, but it's definitely not going to change how I play basketball at all.
"I play the same role kind of as last year, except this year I'm more of a leader on the court and off the court as well."
In recent years, Skyhawks' alumni Megan Hogendoorn (ACAC Augustana), Meghan Martyna (ACAC Augustana/CIS Wilfred Laurier), Caitlin Marshall (CIS Guelph), Christina Kracher (ACAC Concordia) and Hilary Annich (ACAC Grant MacEwan) have gone on to play basketball after high school.
"It really says a lot about our program here at St. Albert high that we graduate so many players to the next level," said Dedrick, who has guided the Skyhawks to six-straight 3A provincial appearances, with the last five trips as the Edmonton zone champions.
