The sky is the limit for the St. Albert Skyhawks after going farther than expected in high school women’s basketball.
The 2018 metro Edmonton division one champions and 3A provincial bronze medallists graduated only two players from their 29-7 lineup as the Skyhawks ended the season with 10 hoopsters after losing a pair to injuries before the opening tipoff.
“One through 13, this is the most talented team I’ve ever had male or female,” said longtime head coach John Dedrick of the Skyhawks’ roster that features six Team Alberta players. “But talent alone doesn’t win games so we’ve got to make sure our heads are screwed on right, we’re focused in practice and we’re doing all the right things. These are all kids that want to try and play at the next level and my job is to try and prepare them for that so I can’t take it easy on them. They all have to compete for playing time.”
The fifth 4A season for the Skyhawks after a record four-straight 3A provincial banners exceeded expectations as injuries limited the team to five full-court practices with 10 healthy players available at one time out of approximately 70 practice sessions overall.
The Skyhawks pulled off their most prolific basketball down the stretch when it mattered the most with three season-defining victories during a 25-day span against the Jasper Place Rebels, the two-time defending division one champions and 2017 4A provincial gold medallists – 68-59 at the SkyDome in the last game before the playoffs as the Rebels suffered their first loss in league play, 68-58 in the division one final at Jasper Place and 58-56 in the provincial bronze-medal match at Medicine Hat.
“Last year, we were kind of like the dark horse because we were missing Abby Morrison (2017 Team Alberta player at Canada Summer Games) for a huge part of the year. We had lost Kenzie Thera (who was unable to play basketball after suffering a ACL/meniscus tear in the first quarter of the 2016 Totem Hoop Classic final against the Rebels) at the start of the year and Bella (Cuciz) we knew wasn’t coming back (because of ACL surgery) but getting Abby healthy at the right time (her season debut was the last league game before the exam break in January after a lengthy recovery from a lower-back ailment) kind of propelled us into those key games,” said Dedrick, the architect of the transformation of the St. Albert Catholic High School’s women’s basketball program from a 3A powerhouse to 4A provincial contender who also guided the 1997 men’s team to the 3A provincial final after winning the metro league’s premier championship.
“But this year there is no surprises. Everybody knows that we have a number of provincial team players. Everybody knows that we were able to perform and win the city finals and then perform well at provincials,“ said Dedrick of the first 4A provincial medal since winning bronze in 2014 as well as the first division one final for the Skyhawks since the 61-53 loss to the Rebels in 2016 that marked the third straight second-place playoff result after capturing premier (now division one) banners in 2010, 2012 and 2013.
The Skyhawks were also the 2017 division semifinalists and 4A consolation champions.
“There is going to be a number of top teams in the Edmonton area and Calgary area this year, so anybody can beat anyone on a given day and we’ve got to make sure we’re consistently one of those teams that win,” Dedrick said.
Three newcomers – Morgan Harris, Annacy Palmer and Dakota Wedman – played for the U15 provincial team at nationals and a trio of returning Skyhawks – Teå DeMong (Metro Athletics all-star and second-team All Canadian at nationals), Kamryn DeKlerk and Mimi Sigue – competed for the U17 team, along with Ella Stanley and Kaitlyn Kluttig of the Paul Kane Blues, that finished fourth at nationals.
“They played against elite level teams and practiced against elite level players for playing time so it’s only going to help us even more,” Dedrick said of the provincial team Skyhawks.
“We’ve returned the bulk of our talent and added new young kids whose primary focus is to play basketball so we’ve got to make sure that we practice hard, play hard, do all the right things and then we should be successful,” added Dedrick, noting all 13 players are also products of Panthawk Basketball (Panther Athletic Club and Skyhawks Basketball). “Of course, it’s tough to replace Abby (now with the Alberta Pandas), but we certainly have more depth and everybody is a year older and more mature.”
Sigue, an imposing six-foot-one post, is a better player for the Team Alberta experience.
“I learned a different way of playing defence. Usually I'm an inside player but Team Alberta challenged me to be a little bit more of everywhere, like I had to guard people on the perimeter, I got to play against some of the best players in the country and it really pushed myself to try harder and to work harder for playing time,” said Sigue, a prominent contributor as a Grade 10 starter last season. “I know I’m not one to shoot or to make that many points, I just know that on defence that’s where I'm pretty good and I focus on that and getting boards, running the floor when I can, helping my teammates on defence and just doing all I can."
Sigue’s goal is to be “a more well-rounded player” this season.
“Everyone knows my strength was on defence but on offence I’m inconsistent so that’s something I really need to work on if I want to go further in basketball.”
Sigue, 16, is anxious for the season to tip off (“I can’t even explain it. I can’t wait to play our first game”) with the Skyhawks as the preseason favourites with the Rebels, with seven healthy Team Alberta players and another recovering from ACL surgery, and Paul Kane for metro league honours.
“Every gym we walk into everyone is going to really try and beat us. We have a target on our back. Everyone is expecting big things from us and we just have to deliver. We can't play down to people’s levels,” said Sigue after a season of “ups and downs" before the remarkable turnaround. “We showed how resilient we were as a team. We were just really close like a family. Everyone knew that we were playing for each other. We gave it all we had.”
FREE THROWS: The first tournament for the Skyhawks is the District Four Invitational, co-hosted by four Calgary schools, starting Thursday and among the teams entering are the Rebels, Western Canada Redhawks and Bishop Carroll Cardinals, the 2018 4A silver medallists.
The following weekend, the Skyhawks also have a tournament on tap in Victoria and are also confirmed for the 37th annual REB Invitational, Dec. 13 to 15 at Jasper Place, and the Jan. 11-12 Paul Kane Invitational featuring 12 teams and 20 games, including seven at the SkyDome.
The Skyhawks will be without DeMong, Harris and Palmer for the REB because of commitments with a national ID training camp that same weekend.
The division one regular season is expected to begin the week of Dec. 10.
