The St. Albert Skyhawks and Paul Kane Blues are one win away from advancing to the metro Edmonton division one final in senior women’s basketball.
The Skyhawks (13-1) host the Jasper Place Rebels (11-3) and the Blues (11-3) visit the Spruce Grove Panthers (13-1), today at 5 p.m.
The division one final is 5 p.m. Saturday at Jasper Place High School.
Last year, the Panthers ended the Skyhawks’ two-year championship reign with a 70-65 victory in the final.
In league play, the Skyhawks beat the Panthers 67-57 in Spruce Grove and at Paul Kane the Blues lost 73-46 to the Skyhawks and 65-49 to the Panthers.
In the final 4A rankings before the March 19 to 21 4A provincials at Jasper Place, the Panthers (27-2 overall) are No. 1, the Skyhawks (29-3 overall) are No. 2, the Rebels are No. 7 and the Blues are No. 9.
At provincials last year, the Skyhawks knocked off the Panthers 56-51 for bronze to finish 30-5 overall in their first season at the 4A level after winning an unprecedented four-straight 3A provincial titles.
Head-to-head against the Rebels this season the Skyhawks lost 61-46 at Jasper Place and were victorious 73-48 in the semifinals of the Titans Tri-Prov tournament at Harry Ainlay High School.
The Skyhawks and Blues are coming off home-court playoff wins Monday.
Riki Steward pumped in a team-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the 75-49 triumph against the Titans (6-8). Brielle Wise drained 13 points and collected eight rebounds and Jessa Ivicak added 11 points and a team-leading nine rebounds.
The Blues pulled off a 65-54 decision against the No. 3-ranked 3A Edmonton Christian Lions (8-6). Early in the season the Lions upset the Blues 61-57 at Paul Kane.
The Paul Kane Blues host the Memorial Marauders of Stony Plain in the metro Edmonton division two junior semifinals today at 5 p.m.
The defending champions from Paul Kane are 7-1 after placing second in pool B. The team’s overall record last year was 16-2.
Memorial is 5-3 after finishing fourth in pool B and in Monday’s quarter-final toppled the undefeated pool A Holy Trinity Trojans 42-33.
The winner plays the Archbishop MacDonald Marauders (7-1), ranked second in pool A, or the Edmonton Christian Lions (7-0), ranked first in pool B, in Saturday’s 11 a.m. final at Jasper Place High School.
The Blues reached the semifinals after Monday’s 56-31 verdict against the sixth-place pool B Sturgeon Spirits (3-5).
The SAPEC junior high basketball league playoffs tipped off Tuesday to determine the Tier I and Tier II city champions.
The semifinals are Monday for the Tier II bracket and Tuesday for the Tier I bracket.
The Tier II finals are March 12 at a venue to be determine and the Tier I finals are March 13 at the SkyDome. The girls’ final starts at 5 p.m. and the boys’ final is 6:30 p.m.
The defending Tier I boys’ and girls’ champions are the Vincent J. Maloney Marauders.
The top teams in the girls division were the ESSMY Leopards and Lorne Akins Gators at 6-1. ESSMY beat the Gators 51-43 in league play.
The Richard S. Fowler Falcons finished 7-0 and Lorne Akins was 6-1 in the boys’ division.
The final SAPEC standings are listed on page 56.
