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St. Mary’s Senior Boys Basketball Team Competes in Provincials
Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser
It was a whirlwind week for Jacqueline Stuart, Head Coach of St. Mary’s Senior Boys Basketball team as they competed in Provincials in Taber March 20-22. Last week was also busy as St. Mary’s was hosting a spring basketball camp.
“Our first provincial game was against Forestburg, which we knew could go either way. It was close throughout the entire game, but we were able to win by 7. We played Olds Koinonia, the number 2 ranked team going into the tournament and lost on Thursday afternoon. On Friday, we lost a tough match up against Gobind Sarvar, a school out of Calgary, which ended our play in the tournament.
We finished being tied for 7/8 overall in the tournament, which is higher than the #10 ranking we had going into it. One of the highlights of the tournament was the number of family members that drove down to cheer us on even though it was almost a five hour drive.”
Recapping the season, Stuart said, “This year, we largely returned the same players that we did last year with a focus of winning gold in the zone championship. (They had won bronze and silver in previous years, so we wanted to "complete the set" of medals from Zones.) In all of the tournaments we were in this year, we either were playing for a medal or for the consolation championship. The team showed tremendous determination to improve their basketball skills and grew in their ability to work as a team, which is a large part of their success.
The highlight was of the season was definitely beating Paradise Valley in the final game after losing to them at Zones for the past three years - making it to provincials was the goal and they achieved it. This was made even more special to do it in our home gym in front of all of their family and friends. It was amazing the amount of support that we got from the community as well.”
St. Mary’s Senior Girls Basketball: A Season to Remember
St. Mary’s Catholic School - Submitted
The ten ladies that make up the senior basketball team had an unforgettable season. The girls rose to the challenge of an early tough schedule by playing several 3A and 4A schools. In the New Year, the solid competition continued by playing several ranked 1A, and 2A schools.
Some season highlights were capturing 4th in Cold Lake, and consolation champions in two other tournaments. Regardless of who we played, the team philosophy was to get better after every practice and after every game. At the conclusion of the regular season, the team was awarded an ASAA honorable mention provincial ranking.
Zones took place in Glendon on March 14. The Saints defeated Paradise Valley in the semi-finals to earn their chance at winning the zone banner. The fact that the team advanced to the zone final meant that they qualified to participate in the 1A girls’ Provincials Championships which was hosted in Olds at the Olds Koinonia Christian School.
The Saints first match at provincials was a loss to the Coaldale Christian Trojans, who eventually went on to win bronze. The second game was much closer. The Saints fell behind by 28 points going into the 4th quarter against the Rosemary Rockets, but rallied to only lose by 14 points.
In the Saints final game on Saturday, the girls finally got the victory they had been working so hard to achieve and end their season on a high note. Once again, it took a strong fourth quarter effort to overcome an eight point deficit in order to defeat the Paul Rowe Raiders by a score of 63-57. “On behalf of the team, I would like to publicly thank the tournament organizers for hosting a remarkable Provincials tournament, where the ladies felt special on and off the court with memories to last a lifetime,” stated Head Coach Mark Kobelsky.
