Alberta Games
The Alberta Winter Games last weekend in Airdrie brought out the best in developing athletes from St. Albert and area.
As of Tuesday morning, the following local athletes and coaches were listed on the Alberta Games website at albertagames.com as podium finishers in their respective sports.
The majority represented Zone 5 (Black Gold/Yellowhead), one of eight zones in the province.
St. Albert
Anna Bakos, curling (female), Zone 5 – second.
Amy Bamber, ringette, Zone 5 – second.
Elena Begovic, artistic swimming (team), Zone 6 – second.
Jenna Berwick, artistic gymnastics, Zone 5 – second (JO 6 all-around team), third (JO 6 all-around).
Coral Brochu, artistic gymnastics, Zone 5 – first (JO 6 bars), second (JO 6 all-around team).
Victor Craevoi, judo (male over 66 to 73 kg), Zone 6 – first.
Leah Daoust, artistic gymnastics, (JO 7 all-around team), Zone 5 – second.
Emily Diocson, artistic gymnastics, Zone 5 – first (JO 6 floor), second (JO 6 all-around team).
Sydney Fevin, ringette, Zone 5 – second.
Aidan Gresik, wrestling (male 70 kg) Zone 5 – third.
Simran Grewal-Grant, ringette, Zone 5 – second.
Ereinne Hall, artistic gymnastics, (JO 6 all-around team), Zone 5 – second.
Jenna Handfield, artistic swimming (team), Zone 6 – second.
Jack Kachkowski, hockey (male), Zone 7 – first.
Dylan Karran, hockey (male), Zone 7 – first.
Gabriel Kuhn, judo (male over 73 to 81 kg), Zone 5 – second.
Janie Lajoie, ringette, Zone 5 – second.
Sadie Makokis, hockey (female), Zone 7 – third.
Tanner McBride, hockey (male), Zone 7 – first.
Kenzie McEachern, ringette, Zone 5 – second.
Addison Pehl, figure skating (pre-novice women's combined), Zone 5 – third.
Braelyn Plaquin, hockey (female), Zone 7 – third.
Abigail Samuel, fencing (mixed team event), Zone 5 – third.
Reeve Spanakis, ringette, Zone 5 – second.
Abigail Still, biathlon, Zone 5 – first (air rifle 2 12U female sprint), second (air rifle 2 12U female individual).
Jamie Stolk, ringette, Zone 5 – second.
Juliette Thievin, figure skating (pre-novice women's combined), Zone 5 – first.
Tayven Tremblay, judo (male over 45 to 50 kg), Zone 5 – first.
Sturgeon County
Adam Berge, archery, Zone 5 – first (cadet 15-17 male compound), first (mixed compound team).
Brooklyn Berge, archery, Zone 5 – first (mixed compound team), second (cadet 15-17 female compound).
Emmerson Fahl, ringette, Zone 5 – second.
Tori Leakos, artistic gymnastics, Zone 5 – second (JO 7 beam), second (JO 7 all-around team).
Kolby Macdonald, curling (male), Zone 6 – third.
Jordyn Polowaniuk, archery (cub 12-14 female compound), Zone 5 – second.
Rita-Jeanne Smith, ringette, Zone 5 – second.
Tricia Smith, ringette, Zone 5 – second.
Morinville
Haydn Lawrence, fencing (mixed team event), Zone 5 – three.
Aida Shima, judo (female under 44 kg), Zone 6 – second.
Caleb Therres, hockey (male), Zone 8 – second.
Wolves victorious
The first home tournament victory by the Morinville Wolves in more than a decade was celebrated by the men’s basketball team Saturday.
“The boys really wanted to win this one,” said head coach Cliff Rowein of the 81-66 show of force against the Peace Wapiti Academy Titans of Grande Prairie.
Matt Osunde rose to the challenge as he’s done all season by draining a team-high 28 points while dishing off eight assists and grabbing eight rebounds.
Russ Foisy tossed in 18 points and Jacob Christensen tacked up 16 as the Wolves improved to 14-4 overall.
The final was the fourth in six tournaments this season for the winners of the Eastglen Blue Classic the previous weekend and the Rise Up in early December at Sturgeon Composite High School.
The semifinal was 90-41 for the North Central zone team against the Louis St. Laurent Barons, 3-7 in the metro Edmonton division three league.
Christensen’s 20 points and 14 rebounds left the Barons reeling.
Foisy’s 19 points and seven assists and Carter Rousseau’s 15 points also made an impact.
The tournament opener was 72-39 against the Barrhead Gryphons as Christensen poured in 24 points and reeled in 12 rebounds, Rousseau finished with 16 points and Osunde contributed 11 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
The next tournament is this weekend in Stettler.
In the second 3A provincial rankings by the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association, the Wolves moved up three spots to No. 6 as the only North Central team in the top 10.
The North Central provincial qualifier is March 13-14 at Westlock and the 3A championship in March 19 to 21 at Strathmore.
Meanwhile, the tournament's third-place game was 85-82 for the Bellerose Bulldogs against the Barons.
Alin Seepo led Bellerose with 19 points and Ethan Weir added 12.
Bellerose lost the 77-70 semifinal to Peace Wapiti and the first game was 90-64 against the Parkland Pacers of Edson.
Bellerose is 2-7 in division two.
Lady Wolves No. 6
The Morinville Wolves are the highest-ranked North Central zone team in the 3A provincial women’s basketball rankings for the second time this season.
The Wolves are slotted sixth after the first Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association rankings listed the two-time defending North Central championship at No. 5.
The Wolves are 12-6 overall after placing third at the Beaumont tournament last weekend.
The last game was 60-45 against the Memorial Marauders of Stony Plain, 1-7 in the metro Edmonton division two league. However, the win came with a price as point guard Makayla Attfield went down early in the second half with an ankle injury.
The semifinal was the 68-63 loss to the Archbishop Jordan Scots, 0-9 in division one.
The Wolves fell behind in the second quarter by nine points due to turnovers and in the third quarter made a run to close the gap to three points before the Scots hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to stretch the lead again.
Jordan Hassell’s 21 points and Abby Davey’s 18 drove the offence.
The Wolves started off the tournament by defeating the Ardrossan Bisons 55-38.
Leading the way against the 9-0 division three team was Attfield’s 11 points and 11 rebounds, Davey’s 12 points and 14 rebounds, Hessell’s 11 points and 17 rebounds and Hayley Devau’s 11 points.
This weekend the Wolves are in tournament action at Wetaskiwin and the first game is against the No. 4-ranked 3A W.R. Myers Rebels of Taber.
Upcoming for the Wolves is the North Central provincial qualifier March 13-14 at Westlock.
The Sturgeon Spirits are hosting the 3A women's championship March 19 to 21.
Sturgeon, 5-5 in division two, is ranked 10 provincially.
Last year’s Wolves captured the provincial consolation title in the 59-52 win over Sturgeon.
The Wolves also upended Sturgeon 53-50 in the third-place game at the Rock of Ages tournament last month in Spruce Grove.
