The tradition of excellence continues for the St. Albert Skyhawks.
The metro Edmonton division one women’s basketball program at St. Albert Catholic High School is poised to win its fourth league championship in seven years in their fifth consecutive trip to the final.
“Oh my gosh! It means so much to us,” said an emotional Aphia Ward, after dropping in 21 points, all in the second half, in Wednesday’s 78-61 semifinal victory over the Spruce Grove Panthers at the SkyDome.
“We only had eight players now and it just shows how much work we put in to get to where we are now.”
Grade 11 post Payton McNeill is still sidelined with a concussion and Grade 11 starter Alexie Pusch accepted a scholarship from the Shawnigan Lake School Rugby Academy and left in mid-February for Vancouver Island.
“We’ve put in so much extra work since we have that much shorter of a bench. We haven’t had a five on five practise in like three months,” said Ward, a third-year Skyhawk along with Jamie Bain and Sam Dargis as the only Grade 12s on the on the team that graduated five players from the 33-5 lineup last season.
“I don’t think a single team lost more than we did when it comes to scoring and rebounding and size,” Ward added.
The playoff showdown between the Skyhawks and Jasper Place Rebels tips-off today at 5 p.m. at Jasper Place High School. Admission will be charged at the door.
The Rebels are 14-0 and the Skyhawks are 13-1 in league play.
“We have to be ready to go on Saturday,” Ward said. “They have a lot of size on us, but we have speed. They also have zero Grade 12s, which means we have experience in comparison so we just have to use that to our advantage.
“We also have to play our game and not get into a habit of playing the way they want to play. We have to play the way we need to play in order to get the win.”
The Skyhawks lost all three games this season to the Rebels by scores of 65-53 in the Totem Hoops Classic semifinals at Ross Sheppard High School, 74-45 Dec. 14 at the SkyDome and 80-68 Feb. 20 in the third-place game at the Panther Classic in Spruce Grove.
“Obviously we’re the underdogs,” said Marina Cain, a clutch player off the bench with 13 points against the Panthers. “No one thought we would be in this position but we worked hard, we practised hard and we’ve always had a goal to get to the city finals and we reached it.”
The Rebels, ranked second in 4A, are coming off a 66-48 decision over the Paul Kane Blues (10-4), ranked 10th in 4A. The Rebels posted period leads of 23-16 after the first, 37-23 at halftime and 60-39 after three.
Cain, 16, described the Rebels as intense.
“They’re similar to us. They have small guards that are fast. They like to run, just like we do, but we can keep up to them even if we have a short bench. We’re ready for them,” said the Grade 11 guard.
The 26th win in 34 games for the Skyhawks, ranked ninth in 4A, was against the team that beat them in the last two finals.
“We’ve played with a lot of these girls and we train with them in the offseason (with Panthawks). We love them to death but that was a good win for us,” Ward said. “It was a great game. They came out and were working hard but it went in our favour.”
The Panthers (11-3), ranked fourth in 4A, jumped out to an early 15-7 lead but the Skyhawks rebounded to end the first quarter ahead 18-16 as Cain drained the first of her two three-pointers to put the Skyhawks on top.
The Panthers battled back to knot it at 26 before Sarah Dedrick drained a long shot with 5:24 left in the second quarter to kick-start a 10-5 run to close out the first half at 36-31.
Ward, 17, started off the second half with a bang by wiring the first of her five threes. The shooting guard tacked up seven points in the third quarter and in the last 10 minutes poured in four threes as Skyhawk Nation raised the roof with every long-range basket by the Beaumont resident.
“My job on the team is to be a shooter. I didn’t even score in the first half but at the end of a game that’s when we need it,” Ward said. “I needed to tell myself to relax and I need to hit the shots. I need to hit so it was like a surreal feeling. It gives me a huge rush and I love it.”
A six-point run pulled the Panthers to within three of the host team and the Skyhawks replied with six straight to lead 49-40 with 3:16 remaining before quarter time.
It was still too close to call at 51-48 after three quarters but back-to-back threes by Ward and Bain during a 24-second span left the Panthers down and out.
“We played our game. We didn’t let them control the pace and we took advantage of our advantages,” Cain said. “We played as one. We played as a team. We got our energy off each other.”
Cheers rained down on the Skyhawks towards the end, when Cain raced down the court and instead of shooting for the basket whipped a wicked pass across the paint to the wide-open Ward for an easy score and 16 seconds later Ward pumped in another three to make it 71-55.
With 1:59 to go, Ward banked her last three of the night off the glass and through the hoop with gusto as the fans, the majority from the male-student body at SACHS, rose in unison in celebration in the team’s last home game of the season.
“This means a lot for us seniors,” Ward said. “I’m just so proud of everybody.”
Bain finished with 18 points, including two threes, Dargis added 11 and Abby Morrison chipped in with six.
This is the third 4A season for the Skyhawks after an unprecedented four consecutive 3A provincial banners and their last provincial medal was bronze in 2014.
FREE THROWS: The junior lady Skyhawks are playing for a division three banner today against the Louis St. Laurent Barons. Game time is 11:30 a.m. at Jasper Place.
The Skyhawks are 9-1 after Wednesday’s 37-18 win over the Fort Saskatchewan Sting (7-3) at the SkyDome.
The Barons are 6-4 after their 65-66 playoff victory over the J. Percy Page Panthers (8-2).
The Skyhawks beat the Barons 39-33 Feb. 10 in league play.
