Building blocks are in place for the Paul Kane Blues to construct a championship-calibre team in high school women’s basketball.
The future looks promising for the Blues after finishing 5-7 in the metro Edmonton premier conference with six Grade 10s on the 12-player roster.
“We’ve had our ups and downs but it’s a building year so next year will hopefully be our winning year,” said Sydney Hurlburt, a Grade 10 starter who plays guard or wing.
The Blues have five players back from last year’s 6-5 premier record. They finished 12-8 overall in the regular season, won four out of six games in the league and zone playoffs and went 1-2 at 4A provincials. They were seeded 10th in the 16-team draw as the Edmonton zone’s third rep at provincials.
This season the Blues were victorious in three tournaments – Rise Up in Namao, Stony Plain Memorial and Edmonton Strathcona – and placed third in the platinum division at the SAIT Silver Belle.
“We’ve been trying to win as a team. It’s not an individual game and you have to put in a team effort,” Hurlburt said.
Monday the Blues visit the 6-6 O’Leary Spartans in the opening playoff round. Tip-off is 6:15 p.m.
“We’re going to keep on practicing and hopefully we’ll win on Monday and we’ll keep on going in the playoffs,” Hurlburt said.
In the 4A provincial rankings the Spartans are 10th and the Blues are unranked.
In league play the Blues beat the Spartans 65-57 on Jan. 10 at Paul Kane and lost 61-52 on Feb. 11 at O’Leary.
The Blues also knocked off the Spartans 51-43 in the recent Strathcona tournament final.
Another notable win against a 4A-ranked team was 73-53 against the No. 7 Archbishop Jordan Scots, the second-place 7-5 team in premier, last month at home.
The Blues also took the Scots into overtime, before losing 66-58 in December in Sherwood Park.
“We always have to do our hardest and keep playing to our fullest and never let down, even if we’re playing a team we beat before,” Hurlburt said.
The Blues are 17-8 overall entering the playoffs after Wednesday’s 80-41 loss to the powerhouse St. Albert Skyhawks, 12-0 in premier and 31-1 overall. The Blues never held the lead while trailing 22-8 after the first quarter, 44-15 at halftime and 57-31 after three quarters.
Co-captain Josee Larson was the team’s top scorer with 14 points. Hurlburt notched six points and Katie Fitzgerald and Tiana Woyewitka had five each.
The Blues also hit three three-pointers in the loss.
“We tried our best and left it all on the court,” Hurlburt said. “There were some ups and downs with how we played. Overall we did pretty good but there are some things we can work on.”
In the third quarter the Blues gave the Skyhawks some grief while outscoring the home team 16-13.
“We put on our zone, which we’ve never done before. We just gave it a shot and it worked I guess,” Hurlburt said.
The margin of defeat was greater than the first tilt between the city rivals, when the 2012 premier champions and three-time defending 3A provincial gold medallists won 83-54 on Dec. 17 at Paul Kane.
“It’s always fun to play against the highest placed team. We know we can’t always win against everyone but we always try and put in a good effort,” said Hurlburt, 15, a junior high product of the Lorne Akins Gators.
FREE THOWS: The two-time defending men’s champions from Paul Kane play the Bev Facey Falcons (6-4 in pool A) in Monday’s playoff at 4:45 p.m. in Sherwood Park.
The Blues (3-7 in pool B), winless in their last three games in premier, lost to Facey in league play 77-57.
Facey is a 4A honourable mention and the Blues are unranked.
