The St. Albert Skyhawks celebrated the first premier junior women’s championship in school history by knocking off the team to beat in metro Edmonton basketball.
Game star Amy Mildenberger dropped in 17 points and Isabelle Durocher tossed in 12 to lead the Skyhawks to a 53-43 victory Saturday over the undefeated Archbishop Jordan Scots at O’Leary high school.
“What we did today was awesome. It was just a great team effort,” Mildenberger said after the Skyhawks’ ninth win in 10 games. “It’s unreal that we came this far since the start of the season and our coaches (Jen Wosnack and Troy Bontus) really inspired us to make it happen.”
Last month the Scots downed the Skyhawks 48-41 in St. Albert with first place on the line in the conference.
“Our intensity was way higher this game. We wanted it so bad,” Mildenberger said. “Our press was really good today. We got lots of steals and lots of points off of that. If we didn’t press that well we wouldn’t have won.”
In the rematch the Scots ended the first quarter with nine unanswered points to lead by five.
The Skyhawks rebounded by outscoring the Scots 23-9 in the second to make it 33-24 at the break. Two clutch three-pointers by Mildenberger in the last nine seconds capped off a sizzling 13-point run.
The Grade 10 guard/winger finished the first half with 14 points.
“Amy’s three-point shooting at the end of the half was the difference in the game,” Durocher said.
Mildenberger, 15, launched both long bombs from about the same spot on the floor. Her second three-pointer was scored off a turnover in the Scots zone and the buzzer beater drew a standing ovation from Skyhawks’ supporters.
“That was a real big thrill,” she said.
In the third quarter the defensive-minded Skyhawks held the Scots to nine points while scoring six. The big play offensively was Tracy Granoski’s steal and layup after a Skyhawks’ timeout to make it 38-31 with 2:17 left in the quarter.
Twice in the fourth quarter the Scots cut the deficit to four points, but timely baskets by Kristi McGuire and Durocher gave the Skyhawks breathing room.
With 2:12 to play, and the Skyhawks up by six, Nicole Brown finished off a nifty passing sequence to lengthen the lead. Moments later Durocher uncorked a long jumper to give the Skyhawks an eight-point cushion with 1:41 to play.
Free throws by Nicole Clayton and Durocher in the last minute sealed the deal.
“We played tough defence and our shooting was fantastic. That’s what kept us on top,” said Durocher, 15.
The last time the lady Skyhawks won junior honours in basketball for St. Albert Catholic high school was 1996 as city conference champions.
“I’m super proud we won premier for our school,” said Durocher, a Grade 10 guard. “It’s just so awesome to be a Skyhawk. I knew when I was in Grade 8 and 9, I wanted to come to SACHS because it’s the No. 1 school for basketball.”
