The Paul Kane Classic is a measuring stick for the host team to gauge where it ranks in high school women’s basketball.
The tournament showcases top-level 4A provincial contenders and the hometown Blues are among the best in Alberta.
“It’s a really good test to see where we’re at,” said Tegan MacKinnon, a Grade 11 guard, prior to Thursday’s practice. “We’re really excited to see how tough the competition is.”
The eight-team draw tipped off noon Friday between the Blues and Bishop Grandin Ghosts of Calgary.
The Jasper Place Rebels, arguably the No. 1 team in the province, played the Medicine Hat Kwahommies, the St. Albert Skyhawks squared-off against the Centennial Coyotes of Calgary and the Spruce Grove Panthers battled the Catholic Central Cougars of Lethbridge.
Scores were unavailable at press time.
Today’s game times are as follows.
8:30 a.m. B-side semifinal.
10:15 a.m. B-side semifinal.
12 p.m. A-side semifinal.
1:45 p.m. A-side semifinal.
3:30 p.m. seventh/eighth place.
5:15 p.m. B-side final.
7 p.m. third-place game.
8:45 p.m. A-side final.
Admission is $5 for a day pass.
“All the games are going to be pretty even and pretty hard because we have a lot of good teams, like SACHS and JP and a lot of Calgary teams we don’t really know a lot about,” said Bronwen Barter, a versatile Grade 11 hoopster. “A lot of these teams we’re probably going to see in provincials so we just want to go in and play really hard.
“It’s our home tournament too so we want to do really well.”
The first game today for the Blues is against Spruce Grove or Catholic Central at 8:30 a.m. or at noon.
The Skyhawks (9-7 overall) will also face Jasper Place, last year’s metro Edmonton division one champions and 4A provincial silver medallists, or Medicine Hat at 10:15 a.m. or 1:45 p.m.
“We know there are a lot of good teams in the tournament so we’re just going to play our best,” MacKinnon said.
The Blues (10-4 overall) resumed league play this week by crushing the Harry Ainlay Titans 76-29.
All 10 players on the roster produced points against the 0-5 Titans at Harry Ainlay.
Alesha Stanley’s team-leading 21 points featured three three-pointers and Anika Steele tossed in 10 points.
Ella Stanley pulled down 16 rebounds, including 10 on defence, and dished out a team-high four assists.
Baxter also reeled in nine rebounds and Deanna Missins had eight boards as the Blues improved to 3-1 in the metro Edmonton division one standings.
“We worked really hard together and practiced our plays really well and had really good practices leading up to this game. It was really good to be all together again,” said MacKinnon, who recorded eight points along with Barter and captain Allie Hunder in the lone league game in January for the Blues.
The Paul Kane Classic signals the start of the second half of the season as the fourth of six and tournaments for the Blues.
“It’s definitely a difficult time for us now because the season starts winding down,” Barter said.
“We’re not going to really take a break because at this point in the season teams either go up or down and we really want to keep on going up and keep on going forward as the season goes on,” MacKinnon added.
The Blues are trending in the right direction after an impressive showing in December that including winning the 19th annual Mike Dea Classic at St. Francis Xavier.
But the cherry on top of the cake was knocking off the Skyhawks for the first time since the 2011 metro playoffs. The scintillating 53-49 come-from-behind thriller in front of wall-to-wall spectators inside the tiny Paul Kane gym was celebrated four days after losing to the 2016 metro division one finalists 67-49 in the consolation semifinals at the 35th annual REB Invitational at Jasper Place.
“Everyone is really pleased how well we’re playing. A lot of the tournaments went really well for us and it really bonded us as a team. The whole first half was a lot of fun,” said Barter, 16, a reliable two-way player who can play any position on the floor.
The Blues have huge hopes of surpassing last year’s 22-14 overall record, including a 10-4 mark as the metro division one semifinalists, and 1-2 result at the provincials, with a lineup of seven returnees and three Grade 10s. The only Grade 12 is Hunder, the team’s floor general.
“Since we’re such a young team we definitely want to do well this year and transfer that on to next year as well,” MacKinnon said. “We’re really working together really well, we’re practicing hard and with 10 players we’re making it work.”
MacKinnon, 16, is a tenacious dynamo who excels on defence while contributing offensively.
“I see my role as a leader and I want obviously the younger players to be a leader as well because everyone on the team has a role as a leader and I want to demonstrate that.”
