4A rankings
The St. Albert Skyhawks are the No. 1 team in the 4A provincial high school women’s basketball rankings.The first of three Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association rankings of the season was unveiled Monday.
The Skyhawks are 5-0 as the defending metro Edmonton division one champions and 14-5 overall after winning the Paul Kane Invitational by a comfortable score of 84-40 against the host team in the Jan. 12 final.
The 2018 4A provincial bronze medallists also placed fourth at the District Four Invitational in Calgary and the REB Invitational at Jasper Place and finished third at the Victoria Christmas Tournament.
A pair of Calgary teams, Bishop Carroll Cardinals and Centennial Coyotes, are slotted second and third, respectively.
In last year’s 4A provincial final, Centennial defeated Bishop Carroll by seven points.
The Skyhawks split two games with Bishop Carroll this season, losing 64-42 in the third-place game at District Four and winning 76-53 in the PK tournament semifinal.
The Paul Kane Blues are listed seventh as the third of four division one teams in the top 10.
The Jasper Place Rebels are sixth and the Salisbury Sabres are 10th.
Paul Kane is 1-1 against the Rebels, 6-0 in division one, with the 67-59 loss in the league opener and the 67-66 semifinal overtime triumph at the PK tournament. The Rebels, last year’s division one finalists and fourth-place finishers at 4A provincials, also dropped a 70-62 decision to Bishop Carroll in the third-place game at PK.
Paul Kane, the 2018 4A provincial consolation champion, is 4-1 in league play and 9-5 overall as the REB finalist and in the tournament semifinal knocked off the Skyhawks 79-75 in double overtime.
League play resumes next week after the exam break. The Skyhawks host the Leduc Tigers (3-3) Wednesday and Paul Kane welcomes the Bev Facey Falcons (2-5) Feb. 4. Game times are 5:30 p.m.
SAPEC tourney
The Richard S. Fowler Falcons swept the Boston Pizza Invitational division A finals Saturday.The defending St. Albert Physical Education Council Tier I city champions finished the SAPEC tournament with 4-0 records with wins of 55-34 for the girls against the Vincent J. Maloney Marauders after leading 21-11 at halftime and 71-66 for the boys over the St. Peter the Apostle Spartans of Spruce Grove. Both games were played at VJM.
Last year the lady Falcons defeated VJM 57-41 in the final and 60-43 for the team’s second consecutive SAPEC banner.
The recent VJM tournament was another victory for the Falcons in the final against the Marauders, who are 7-2 in league and tournament action.
The Fowler boys had lost the last two tournament finals to the Spartans, including last year’s 58-53 overtime decision.
This year Fowler led by as much 21 points in the second half, en route to its ninth win without a loss this season. Fowler also came out on top at the VJM tournament.
The third-place games in division A were the Lorne Akins Gators over the Morinville Wolves for the boys and Sherwood Heights over the Sir George Simpson Voyageurs for the girls.
The division B winner was Woodhaven of Spruce Grove against the Elmer S. Gish Warriors for the girls and Greystone of Spruce Grove for the boys.
The three-day tournament featured 16 boys’ and 16 girls’ teams competing at four St. Albert venues.
Meanwhile, the annual Fowler Classic tips off 1:30 p.m. Thursday with six boys’ and six girls’ teams competing.
Fowler and VJM are co-hosting the Thursday and Friday round-robin games in pools A and B.
Saturday’s finals at Fowler are 3 p.m. for the girls and 4:30 p.m. for the boys.
Fowler and VJM are the SAPEC reps in the tournament.
Wolves basketball
The Morinville Wolves are ranked in 3A provincial high school basketball.The lady Wolves are No. 5 and the Morinville men are an honourable mention.
The lady Wolves are 12-3 overall as the highest-ranked North Central zone team in the top 10. Parkland of Edson is No. 9.
The only blemishes for the Lady Wolves were tournament losses to three metro Edmonton teams: the division one Salisbury Sabres (4-1) and Bev Facey Falcons (2-5) and the division two Oscar Romero Ravens (4-2).
The 2018 North Central champions and sixth-place team at 3A provincials hosts the Lady Wolves Invitational next weekend and the No. 2 St. Peter the Apostle Spartans, 5-0 in division two, is on the opposite side of the draw from the Wolves.
As for the men’s team, Morinville is 9-3 overall with the first-place result at Rise Up in Namao and third-place finish at the Louis St. Laurent tournament.
One of the team’s losses was in overtime and two setbacks were against 4A division two teams in the metro league.
Next weekend Morinville is competing at the Archbishop McDonald tournament.
The 2018 North Central champion and 10th-place team at 3A provincials is hosting a tournament Feb. 15-16 and zones March 8-9.
3A Spirits ranked
The Sturgeon Spirits are ranked sixth out of 10 teams in 3A provincial high school women’s basketball.Sturgeon is also the second of three metro Edmonton division two teams to crack the top 10. The St. Peter the Apostle Spartans (5-0) are second behind the W.R. Myers Rebels of Taber and the Oscar Romero Ravens (4-2) are 10th.
Sturgeon, last year’s division two champion, is 3-2 in league play and 12-5 overall, with a win against the No. 3 Wetaskiwin Sabres and losses to the Spartans and the No. 5 Morinville Wolves without the team’s starting point guard.
The next league game for Sturgeon is Jan. 31 against the Strathcona Christian Academy Eagles (0-6) at 5:30 p.m. in Sherwood Park.
