The Paul Kane Blues were unable to beat the team to beat twice in high school women’s basketball.
The third tournament final between the Blues and Jasper Place Rebels ended with the 2017 4A provincial gold medallists winning the Paul Kane Classic 59-52 against the host team.
Four weeks ago, the Blues floored the Rebels 70-52 at the 36th annual REB Invitational at Jasper Place to avenge the 73-65 loss to the reigning metro Edmonton division one champions at the 20th annual Mike Dea Classic at St. Francis Xavier.
“It sucks losing in our home gym but beating them in their home gym was really nice,” said Jenna Rinsky, a Grade 10 guard for the Rebels and the tournament MVP. “We really wanted to get back at them.”
The Blues overcame a first-quarter deficit to lead by five with four minutes gone in the second period but let the advantage slip away and trailed 32-26 at halftime.
The Rebels outscored the Blues 12-8 in the third quarter to lead by 10 and stayed on top the rest of the way despite a late surge by Paul Kane to close the gap to four points on three occasions in the last three minutes.
“It’s a disappointing loss but we all gave it our all and hustled hard,” said Tegan MacKinnon, a Grade 12 guard and a co-tournament all-star for the Blues with Grade 11 guard Kaitlyn Kluttig.
So, what was the difference between the loss at Paul Kane and the win at Jasper Place for the Blues?
“We knew what was at stake because this game is more important for the rankings in the province so we had that in the back of our minds whereas at the REB we had nothing to lose and we just gave it our all,” MacKinnon said. “I guess today it didn’t go our way.”
The Rebels and Blues are expected to be No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, when the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association releases its first 4A provincial rankings of the season this week.
“We’ll have a good chance of being the top two teams because we’re a really good match against each other and our intensity matches each other,” Rinsky said.
Both teams are also 5-0 in league play and they will cross paths Feb. 14 at Paul Kane.
The Blues are confident they can now hang with the Rebels after losses last year of 64-41 in the final of the Paul Kane Classic, 55-51 at home in the last league game before the playoffs and 58-51 in the provincial quarter-finals.
“Definitely the first game at the Mike Dea tournament we were scared kind of because that was our first time playing them this season,” MacKinnon said. “But the REB and this one were definitely our better games against them because of our defence. Everyone was talking and everyone was intense for sure.”
The Rebels were winners of 45 consecutive games after the 2016 setback in the 4A provincial final before the stunning loss in the REB final.
“We came in almost too excited that game. We were a little bit nervous and kind of frazzled and just didn’t play as a team as well but in this game we played much more stronger,” Rinsky said. “We came in with a lot of energy because we really wanted this one. We wanted a faster game. We wanted to push the ball and use our speed against them.”
The Rebels started with a bang with a lightning-quick 11-point run as the Blues scrambled to play catch up down by 10 before closing out the first quarter behind 15-7.
MacKinnon rallied the Blues by scoring 11 of her 15 points in the second quarter. A stretch of 13 straight points by the Blues, highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers by MacKinnon and Bronwen Barter, pushed Paul Kane into the lead before Sydney Fedick nailed a three for the first points of the quarter by the Rebels with 5:51 left in the half.
“At the start we all were kind of nervous because there were a lot of our home fans and it was in our home gym but once we got into it and got all the jitters out we were good and got into it quickly,” MacKinnon said.
Taylor Flewin’s three before the horn made it a six-point bulge at the break and Fedick carried the Rebels through the third quarter with seven points, including an early three.
Another three, this time by Rinsky’s older sister, Sarah, rattled the Blues with 6:27 left in the final to make it 51-40.
“We came out really strong and then kind of faded but we still kept our momentum going,” Rinsky said.
Down 44-34 with 10 minutes to play, bursts of offence by the Blues resulted in threes by MacKinnon and Alesha Stanley in the early going of the last period and a five-point spree by Barter tightened the gap at 53-49 with under three minutes remaining.
Fedick replied with a field goal to extend the lead to six points and 72 seconds later Kluttig answered with a bucket with 1:12 to go.
A foul against the Blues, much to the chagrin of the Paul Kane fans, players and coaches who were puzzled by the call, led to Haley Fedick converting one of two free throws with 54.9 ticks on the clock.
With 42.3 to go, MacKinnon hit the first of her two free throws but was unsuccessful on the second attempt and the Blues were unable to convert the rebound.
A mighty three by Haley Fedick with 13 seconds to play sealed the deal.
"Both teams left it all out there. We hustled hard,” said MacKinnon, 17.
Barter finished with 10 points on the strength of seven in the last quarter.
Sydney Fedick, the best player on either team in the final, pumped in 16 points and her younger sister, Haley, added 11.
Sarah Rinsky also recorded 15 points but it was her five-foot-four sister that stood out throughout the weekend for a variety of reasons as the top player in the tournament.
“It was unexpected. I was really happy about it,” said Jenna, 15, who chipped in with 10 points in the 59-54 semifinal win against the St. Albert Skyhawks. “That was my best game. I had lots of defensive intensity and some good offensive reads.”
The Blues travelled an easy road to the final by cruising past the Parkland Immanuel Penguins 89-31 in the opener and the Chestermere Lakers 58-28 in the semifinals. At halftime it was 52-11 against the Penguins, a 1-4 metro division three team, and 40-8 against the Lakers.
FREE THROWS: The last league game before the exam break for the Blues was 72-54 against the Archbishop Jordan Scots (0-6) Monday in Sherwood Park.
Upcoming for the Blues is the Feb. 12 Battle of St. Albert with the Skyhawks (4-0) at the SkyDome.
