The Morinville Wolves gave it their best shot at the 3A provincial basketball championships at Medicine Hat.
The boys finished fifth overall as the eighth seed in the 12-team draw.
"They played their hearts out and should be proud of their effort," said head coach Cliff Rowein. "They gave themselves a chance to win every game. The games were all close and came down to the final few minutes in each one. It was very hard on the coaches' and parents' hearts but very exciting for the fans."
The girls placed 10th out of 12 teams for the second year in a row after starting the tournament with a heart-breaking one-point loss to the Magrath Pandas, the eventual silver medallists.
"It was a great effort," said Kent Lessard, head coach of the Wolves, seeded 10th at provincials. "We were down by 11 at halftime and the girls fought back to take a one point lead with about five minutes left. Unfortunately, we turned over the ball on our next few possessions and could not build on that lead."
Colts corralled
The boys beat the sixth-seeded McCoy Colts 68-63 in the consolation final as Johnny Baillargeon paced the attack with 15 points, including eight in the third quarter. Blake Simmons tossed in 14 and Luc Mercier and Quinn Walberg had 13 apiece for the foul-plagued Wolves. Mercier's points were scored in the first half. Walberg was on fire in the fourth quarter with nine points, including a pair of three-balls.
The Wolves led 13-8 after the first quarter, 30-25 at halftime and 44-43 after three quarters.
"Winning the consolation without Nathan Felix [in the line-up] and with two starters fouling out [Simmons and Mercier] was a good way to end the year," Rowein said.
The north central zone champions tipped off the tournament with a 63-58 decision over the ninth-seeded Foundations for the Future Charter Academy of Calgary. Simmons was a one-man scoring machine with seven three-balls, on the strength of four threes in the third quarter. His game-high 30 points was split evenly with 15 in each half.
The Wolves trailed 13-12 after the first quarter and 35-30 at halftime before Simmons rocked Calgary with his three-point shooting spree as the Wolves jumped ahead 47-43 after three quarters.
The next game was a rollercoaster 81-69 overtime loss to the Holy Trinity Trojans, a metro Edmonton premier conference team seeded first at provincials.
Period scores were 12-11 Wolves after the first, 32-30 Trojans at halftime, 50-46 Wolves after three quarters and 64-all after regulation time. A few three-pointers, followed by a rash of free throws to end the extra period, lifted the Trojans to victory. They would go on to finish fourth overall.
Muraso Yergu of the Trojans led all scorers with 34 points. For the Wolves, nine players registered points. Kris Tomlinson recorded 11 and Simmons had 10. Mercier and Brandon Daubert added nine each.
The Wolves shook off the loss with a spirited 72-69 win over the fourth-seeded Brooks Buffalos. Morinville led 19-14 after the first quarter, 40-36 at halftime and 54-50 after three quarters. The Wolves made their foul shots count down the stretch to preserve the win. The top scorer was Simmons with 22. Felix also tacked up 16.
The Wolves finished the season 20-13 overall with Felix, a third-year starter, missing for 14 of those games. The Wolves also competed at their fourth provincials in six years. They placed fourth in 2008.
"We only lose four players from this year's line-up and have a strong core returning," Rowein said. "I hope the taste of provincials will help motivate them to wanting that taste every year."
Tough loss
Time ran out on the lady Wolves against the seventh-seeded Pandas in the provincial opener.
After a fierce rally to go up by one, three late baskets by Magrath's Tara Low put the Wolves down again. With time a factor, Melyssa Derrien went one-for-two at the foul line and then Tiana Campbell hit a three-pointer with 18 seconds left to cut the deficit to a point. After the Pandas missed two free throws with six seconds remaining, Vicky Dubord grabbed the rebound. Although it looked like Dubord was fouled, she passed the ball ahead and with the clock winding down the Wolves took a shot that fell short of the hoop as the Pandas prevailed 50-49.
The Pandas bolted into period leads of 16-10 after the first, 29-18 at halftime and 38-34 after three quarters.
Campbell scored a team-high 16 points, with two three-pointers coming in the final quarter. Haley England added 12 points and Kelly Tataryn had eight.
"The girls had trouble bringing that same level of intensity to the next two games as they were quite disappointed that they were no longer in contention," Lessard said.
The two-time defending north central zone champions rebounded to thump the 11th seeded Peace Wapiti Academy Titans of Grande Prairie 65-30. England rang up 16 points and Tatryn and Kayli Avveduti added 12 apiece.
The last game was a 54-47 loss to the eighth-seeded Holy Rosary Raiders of Lloydminster. It was 15-all after the first quarter, when the Raiders pulled ahead for leads of 28-23 at halftime and 39-31 after three quarters. England scored 12 points and Campbell and Connie Schaffrick had 11 apiece.
At the 2009 provincials the Wolves finished 10th as the ninth seed in their first appearance in 10 years.
Their overall record this year was 22-8.
