SFX Sports Centre – Class is now in session for the Paul Kane Blues.
The 21st annual Mike Dea Classic signals the start of the academic basketball season for the lady Blues.
“It’s definitely a big learning tournament. Some of our girls have never played at a senior level,” said Kaitlyn Kluttig, one of seven returnees on the 12-player roster.
Kluttig, a point guard, and high-scoring forward Ella Stanley are third-year Blues as two of the four Grade 12s on the team who played for the 2018 metro Edmonton division one semifinalists and 4A provincial consolation champions.
“We’re young. We’ve only got a few seniors this year so we’re getting into it and learning new things. It’s going to take a lot of learning,” Kluttig said. “Our goal is to keep getting better.”
Paul Kane tipped off the Dea tournament in Thursday’s 71-58 victory against the Strathcona Lords.
Friday’s semifinal score against the Leboldus Golden Suns of Regina was unavailable at press time.
Depending on the result, Paul Kane plays the Medicine Hat Kwahommies or St. Joseph Guardians of Saskatoon today in the 2 p.m. third-place game or 6 p.m. final.
Last year’s Blues lost the final by eight points to the Jasper Place Rebels after winning the 2016 championship by 31 points against the Holy Trinity Trojans as the first Paul Kane team, women or men, to pull off the feat at the St. Francis Xavier High School tournament.
“Winning it this year would be great but it’s more about learning as a team and growing,” Kluttig said.
It took Paul Kane a few minutes to get into the swing of things en route to period leads of 14-11 at the end of the first, 39-29 at halftime and 61-45 entering the last 10-minute quarter.
“We all know we’re going to make mistakes and that’s OK,” Kluttig said of the first-game jitters. “We were in rough at the start but the fact that we were able to get together at the end and just pull through and work hard is what matters right now.”
Earlier in the day, Strathcona overwhelmed the Ernest Manning Gryphons of Calgary 70-28 and against Paul Kane the scrappy Lords opened the scoring with six points before Raeesa Cherniwchan, a returning Grade 11 post who is poised for a breakout season, deposited an offensive rebound 2:51 into the contest.
It was 10-8 Strathcona when the first of four three-pointers by Jules Froment, a rookie from the SAPEC Tier I city champion Richard S. Fowler Falcons, put Paul Kane ahead to stay. The Blues finished with eight threes, compared to four for Strathcona.
Eight consecutive points in the opening three minutes of the second quarter extended the lead and a 12-2 point run in the third quarter, highlighted by a three and then seconds later a three-point play by Froment, made it 59-43 with about a minute to go before the break to seal the deal.
“Both teams worked hard and hustled. They were really good competition. It was close all the way through,” said Kluttig of the matchup with Strathcona, a division one quarter-finalist last season.
Stanley tacked up 13 of her game-high 20 points in the first half, Froment finished with 16 points and Bella Gaulden, a returning Grade 11 guard, tossed in a pair of threes for 13 points and Kluttig added 11.
As for early season strengths of the Blues, “Hustle for sure,” Kluttig said. “We’ve got a lot of gritty girls this year so definitely we’re going to get on the floor for loose balls and all of that defensive stuff.”
Paul Kane is coming off a 28-7 season that included four losses in five metro league and tournament (three finals) games against Jasper Place, the division one finalist and fourth-place team at 4A provincials. The lone win was by 18 points in the final of the 2017 REB Invitational at Jasper Place, which was also the first loss for the Rebels since the 2016 provincial final.
“Last year was one to remember for sure. Everyone just loved everybody. It was definitely a lot of fun,” said Kluttig, the team’s co-tournament all-star at the Paul Kane Classic in January as the Rebels beat the Blues by seven points in the final. “We got first in consolation in provincials (for fifth place overall as the No. 8 seed in the 16-team draw), which was great. We ended on a high so I was really happy with how that ended.”
With the graduation of six players, Kluttig will assume a larger leadership role (“Being a leader for sure takes a lot of responsibility”) while logging more minutes as a starter.
“Last year, I was normally the sixth man so when the main point guard came off I would come on and just try to keep up with what they were doing on the court,” said Kluttig, who missed a chunk of her Grade 10 season with a broken finger.
Kluttig, 17, and Stanley are among the top U17 players in the province after competing for Team Alberta at the Canada Basketball female championships in August at Fredericton, N.B. They were joined by Teå DeMong, Kamryn DeKlerk and Mimi Sigue of the St. Albert Skyhawks, the 2018 division one champions and 4A provincial bronze medallists, as Alberta finished fourth at the U17 nationals.
“It was one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had, not just being able to go to New Brunswick but you’re meeting girls across the country and the competition was great. All those people you get to see made it even better,” said Kluttig, a product of St. Albert SLAM Youth Development Basketball and the junior high Lorne Akins Gators. “There are girls there that are Canada identified. They’re crazy good so playing against that for sure makes you better as a player overall.”
