O'Leary High School – With the glare of the spotlight shining on Kendall Lydon, the St. Albert Skyhawks' game star survived Saturday's playoff pressure cooker to win the championship.
With 0.1 left on the clock and the tension-filled final a stalemate at 72-all, the rookie Skyhawk beat the rival O'Leary Spartans with a pair of dramatic free throws.
"I was confident because I play better under pressure," said the bright-eyed Lydon while smothered with congratulations during a boisterous post-game celebration. "I was so excited to be at the line because I knew it would be amazing just to put down those free throws and win it."
With 4.7 seconds remaining in the riveting affair, Andrea Heavener inbounded the ball from O'Leary's baseline to Zoe Downing and she quickly spun it right to Lydon. After busting a few moves, Lydon was fouled by the rattled-looking Spartans while attempting a three-pointer as the fans went bonkers.
"Since it was tied I was just trying to draw a foul because I knew that was going to be the shot so I was trying to draw as big of a foul as I could so I could get to the line," Lydon said.
With three cracks at breaking the stalemate and the Spartans praying for a miracle, Lydon missed the first shot. After flashing a smile towards the nervous-looking Skyhawks' bench, she clutched up to nail the next two free throws as the gym exploded into pandemonium.
"Oh my God! It was amazing! To have it come down right to the wire like that, my heart was pounding," said Heavener, the team's co-captain and a third-year Skyhawk as tears rolled down her beaming face. "I'm so happy for us. We've worked so hard to get here and to win it like we did was fantastic."
The playoff thriller will go down in history as the first metro Edmonton premier women's basketball championship for the St. Albert Catholic High School. The Skyhawks are also the first St. Albert varsity women's team to win premier honours in the metro league, established in 1988/89.
"We wanted to beat them pretty bad because we really wanted a premier championship," said Lydon, the offensive catalyst for the Skyhawks with 23 points. "It really means so much to us, especially with so many people that came out to support us. I'm glad we didn't disappoint them."
Hucul's hit shot
It looked like the biggest game of the year was slipping away from the number-one ranked 3A team in Alberta until the electrifying Shelby Hucul lifted the Skyhawks' supporters out of their seats with a perfect shot to knot it at 72 with less than five seconds left in regulation time.
"Once I sunk it I knew we were going to win," said Hucul, 16, her voice cracking with emotion. "I was so overjoyed when it went in. I think the whole team was too. It was amazing."
Desperate for points with time running out, the Skyhawks ran a play were everyone goes to the baseline so Grade 12 point guard Hilary Annich could either penetrate and score or pass. The Skyhawks' co-captain drew a crowd of Spartans towards her before dishing the ball off to a wide open Hucul and the Grade 11 playmaker hit nothing but net with the short corner jumper.
"I wasn't nervous at all when it came to me. It was instinct, I guess. I just shot it up," Hucul said. "It was a beautiful pass by Hilary. She led the defence to her and then she kicked it to me. It was a team effort, not just on that play but the whole game too. Everybody added something to the team's victory."
Lydon, 16, gave Hucul props for putting the Skyhawks in a position to win it.
"Shelby was dead on with that shot. She did really well under pressure," said the transfer student from the Chehalis Bearcats in Washington State.
Despite blowing an eight-point lead late in the game, the Skyhawks never doubted their abilities against the Spartans, ranked third in 4A hoops.
"They came back but we didn't give up," said Heavener, 17, who contributed 16 points in the win. "We were really mentally in it and that really helped us out because we never got down on each other. We were so focused on winning."
After falling behind 17-14 after the first quarter and 31-26 at halftime, the Skyhawks jumped ahead 49-45 at the end of the third quarter as Lydon took charge offensively with three three-balls and 12 total points in the period.
"Kendall was hot today. She was sinking everything. She was really good," Hucul said.
Lydon's fourth three of the game with 1:50 left on the clock made it 70-62.
"Everything I shot just felt good tonight," said the Grade 10 guard/wing.
Fantastic finish
Credit the Spartans for pushing the Skyhawks to the limit. A thee-pointer with 1:28 to go was followed 18 seconds later by a bucket by Grade 11 standout Adut Bulgak, a feisty six-foot-three post with a massive wingspan.
During a frantic last minute of gripping action, the Spartans trimmed the deficit to one point with a bucket in between travelling calls against Annich and Heavener. The second whistle cancelled a basket by Heavener with 29.9 seconds to go.
The Spartans kept putting the ball in Bulgak's valuable hands and with 14 seconds left she was fouled on a missed shot. She put the first free throw in but the next attempt bounced off the rim and a scrum ensued. The Spartans were awarded the ball on the alternate possession rule with 12.6 seconds on the clock. On the inbound play, Bulgak quickly tossed the ball in to give the Spartans a two-point lead.
After Hucul's dagger to even the score, head coach John Dedrick instructed his players to deny hard so that it wasn't easy for the Spartans to throw the ball in. The Spartans overthrew the intended receiver with an incomplete pass because they were worried about the five-second call to move the ball. Because nobody touched the ball before it went out of bounds, the clock never started and the Skyhawks got the ball where it was last thrown in from under the O'Leary basket with 4.7 seconds remaining and the rest is history.
"It was pretty emotional the way it ended," Hucul said. "It was a real tough game. The other team played amazing too but we were awesome."
A gutsy Annich shook off a nagging ankle injury to score nine of her 13 points in the critical fourth quarter. Despite playing in pain the team's MVP in 2008/09 showed tremendous determination in quarterbacking the offence.
Downing's 10 points included a three to lift the Skyhawks in front 52-50 in the fourth quarter and two free throws to make it 65-60 with 2:41 to play.
The victory completed an unprecedented 14-0 premier campaign for the Skyhawks. The Spartans finished 11-3, with all three losses against the Skyhawks.
Zone playoffs
Meanwhile, the Skyhawks' quest for a sixth straight trip to the 3A provincials, and their fourth as Edmonton zone champions started in Monday's 100-40 rout of the Holy Trinity Trojans at the SkyDome. Lydon led all scorers with 24 points. Downing had 20 and Heavener added 16 as the Skyhawks improved their overall record to 29-5. Annich sat out the game to rest her ankle. Grade 12 post Courtney Gogowich aggravated her injured shoulder in the first minute of play and didn't return to the floor.
Today at 4:45 p.m. the Skyhawks host the Louis St. Laurent Barons in the semifinals. A win would give the Skyhawks' home court advantage in Thursday's final against the Leduc Tigers or Beaumont Bandits. The winner advances to provincials, starting next Thursday at Medicine Hat.
