Our Senior Varsity teams finished their seasons off with strong results. The boys earned a bronze medal and the girls the consolation championships at the 3A Provincial Championships in Strathmore, this past weekend. This brings an end to the basketball season with the spring sport season just around the corner.
VARSITY BOYS BASKETBALL
The Lakers travelled to Spruce Grove this past week as the #2 seed in the 3A Provincial Championships. Having a bye to the quarter-finals the Lakers did not play on Thursday and attended the opening ceremonies and banquet as a team. In the quarter-finals the team found themselves up against Crescent Heights for the third time this season. With nerves playing a factor, the Lakers found themselves down 36-32 at half. Riley Lenci’s 8 makes from behind the arc eventually led the Lakers to the victory. Jherald Gonzales and Drake Bruney added 14 points each and much needed rebounding against a tough team. On Friday evening the Lakers played Edmonton Christian in the semi-finals. Leading by 4 at the half, the Lakers had their worst offensive performance of the year in the second half, while the Lions played some of their best. The Lakers ended up on the wrong side of a disappointing loss, 86-61. Although extremely disappointed in not making the provincial final, the team still had aspirations of ending their season with a win a bronze medal. In a character building win, the Lakers beat Taber 83-72 to place third in the province. All 11 players saw the floor in the final game and the 4 seniors all had great games. Lenci continued his hot shooting, while Bruney was great on the rebounds and free throw line. Yuvraj Hundal dominated offensively from the beyond the arc and in the paint, able to get by his man at will. Despite a severe ankle sprain, Viny Jawanda ended with 10 points and several key rebounds down the stretch, showing toughness in playing through the injury. The coaching staff would like to congratulate all 11 players, especially the graduating seniors, for leaving a legacy in a Lakers’ uniform that any Chestermere alumni would be proud of. GREAT JOB BOYS!!!! Great job to the coaches, as well.
VARSITY GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
The Lady Lakers entered Provincials ranked #6, in Alberta, but aspired to get into the medals. On Thursday the Lady Lakers opened with a 67-45 victory over a scrappy Ardrossan team. Thursday evening the team enjoyed the tournament banquet with the other 11 teams. Friday morning in the quarter-finals the girls lost to a ohysical Ednmonton Christian team. Down 14 in the 3rd quarter the team fought back to tie it in the 4th. Turnovers, missed shots and some tough calls proved to be the difference as the team lost 52-45. The coaches were extremely pleased with the effort of the team. This was a tough loss for the girls as they wanted to get into the semi-finals and the medal round. The team was resilient, however, as they came back later that night to defeat Morinville 59-42. That put the team into the Consolation Championship on Saturday. The team had to play without Aimee Wilson, Jasjit Deol, Leena Saghir and Jordan Brown due to various injuries. This was on top of the loss of Laura Costello in December. The girls made no excuses and came out with a very strong effort. They did not play great in the first half but responded with a tremendous 2nd half, playing some of their best basketball of the season. Despite being undermanned and tired the team had to gut out a 58-51 victory over Edwin Parr to earn the Consolation Championship and a 5th place finish. Although not happy that they finished out of the medals the girls were pleased with the 3-1 record and the Consolation Championship, especially considering that standout guard, Aimee Wilson, played in only one game, all weekend. The coaches were proud of the team’s success this year, especially considering the number of injuries. This team had left its mark as one of the outstanding teams to ever play at Chestermere. Well done Lady Lakers.
BADMINTON
Our badminton team has started their training and has three practices this week. See Mr. Massig or Ms. Everson for details on the badminton season. The divisional championship takes place after Easter.
RUGBY
The boys have started their training for the upcoming season. Please see Coach Autet for details and schedules. The girls will be starting shortly. Check with Mr. Derkatch for details on practice schedules. All boys and girls planning on playing rugby this year should be doing training on their own, as well.
SOUTH CENTRAL ZONE ALL-STAR GAME
Three members of the Lady Lakers and three from the Lakers’ basketball team are expected to play in the zone all-star game, this Wednesday at Highwood High School, in High River. Girls game is at 6 and the boys at 7:45. Details next week. Best of luck
SHOOTING STARS SHOWCASE
The 20th annual Shooting Stars Showcase all-star basketball games will take place this weekend, at SAIT. A number of the JV and Varsity team members will play in the event. Details will be provided in next week’s article.
SHOOTING STARS GIRLS CLUB BASKETBALL
The Shooting Stars will, again, be offering club basketball for girls in the Chestermere area. The identification camps will be as follows in the Wilson Gym: Monday, March 18, Tuesday March 19, Tuesday, March 26 and Wednesday, March 27 6:00-7:30 for girls in grades 6-8. For girls in grades 9-11 your identification camp will be on Tuesday, March 26 and Wednesday, March 27 from 7:30-9 in the Wilson gym at CHS.
Madison returned to Chestermere from Texas, at the semester break, and has made a big difference to the team. She played her best basketball, this weekend,. in helping her team go 3-1 at Provincials and win the Consolation Championship. Her defense, rebounding and timely scoring was a huge factor in The Lady Lakers’ success.[/box] [box]VARSITY BOYS’ ATHLETE OF THE WEEK –RILEY LENCI
Riley finished off a great career as a Laker at the provincial championships this weekend, leading the team in scoring over the three games. Riley’s exceptional shooting from three point range and leadership on and off the court were crucial to the Lakers finishing third in the province. Congratulations on a great career Riley and good luck in the future.[/box]
