The St. Albert Mission U19AA belles returned home from their first tournament of the season with silver medals.
The Mission finished 3-1-1 at the Bernadette Price Memorial AA Tournament in Saskatoon after losing the final 2-0 to Eastman from eastern Manitoba.
“Overall, I think we got a good sense of what kind of team we are and what our strengths and weaknesses are,” said head coach Corey De La Mare. “Our scoring by committee, which is a tremendous asset for us, and our goaltending and defence was exceptional. As long as we keep growing and learning as a team we will be one of the last teams standing at provincials vying for a berth at nationals.”
In pool play the 2015 national bronze medallists coughed up a 3-1 lead late in the first half against Eastman and settled for a 4-4 draw.
The rematch was a tight, fast and physical affair. The Mission carried most of the play in the first half but couldn’t bury a goal. Late in the half, Eastman got on the board from a broken play resulting in a breakaway. The Mission goalie came up with a big save but Eastman retrieved the rebound, passed it to the front of the net to score off a one-timer.
In the second half Eastman scored again and Mission had a couple of opportunities to fill the net but the opposition’s goalie was rock solid.
The Mission entered the tournament as winners of three in a row but had only played one game against a U19 team and the rest were against open A teams.
The Mission started pool play by edging an experienced Calgary team 2-1. They also defeated Regina 7-3 and against the second Calgary team never trailed in the 7-3 victory. It was 3-2 Mission with 11 minutes to play when they hit three posts, missed an open net and was unsuccessful on a breakaway as the Calgary goalie stood on her head.
Mission skated into the final with seven points as the top team in their pool and Eastman had five points.
Meanwhile, the Mission U16AA juniors finished 1-2-1 in Saskatoon. They lost 7-1 to Calgary Armstrong, the eventual champions, tied the Regina Stingers 7-6, lost 7-4 to Zone 5 Pack and beat Eastman 7-5.
The Mission U14AA tweens split four games in Saskatoon to place fifth out of eight teams. They recorded wins of 4-1 and 7-6 against two different Manitoba teams and lost to Calgary and Saskatoon.
The next major tournament for the Mission teams is the Wood Invitational next weekend in Edmonton.
Alicia Easthope and James Robillard were among the top junior golfers in Canada competing at the Maple Leaf Tour national championship last weekend at the Reunion Resort and Golf Club in Kissimmee, Fla.
The Sandpiper Golf & Country Club members were among 17 Albertans and 78 golfers overall from across Canada to receive invites to the season-ending MJT nationals based on their Order of Merit standings on the top junior golf tour in Canada.
Easthope, 17, finished sixth out of 12 females in the 15 to 19 age division with a two-day score of 179 (84, 95) as the second-best Albertan in the field.
Mary Parson, 16, of Delta, B.C., placed first at 156 (76, 80).
Robillard, 17, shot a 162 (78, 84) for 21st overall out of 27 males in the 17 to 19 junior division as the seventh-highest finisher from Alberta.
Kade Johnson, 17, of Yorkton, Sask., won in a playoff after carding a score of 146 (75, 71).
The St. Albert SLAM midget A girls are continuing their winning ways as the defending provincial champions.
The SLAM are 7-0 in the Edmonton Youth Basketball Association and 11-0 this season after Wednesday’s 74-17 victory over Southwest Edmonton at Servus Credit Union Place.
Last season the SLAM finished 20-0 while sweeping the midget A EYBA and provincial titles.
Ella Stanley was the top scorer with 12 points and Kenzie Thera tossed in 11 against Southwest.
The leading scorers for the year have been a mix of six players. Stanley, Thera, Bella Cuciz, Kaitlyn Kluttig and Aine Murphy are averaging between 10 to 12 points per game and Brooke Froment leads all scorers with about 13 per game.
Last weekend the SLAM finished 4-0 at the EYBA Ultimate Tournament at Saville Community Sports Centre and in the final they defeated the CBA Mount Royal Junior Cougars, one of the premier club programs in the province, by 11 points
A core group of girls – Cuciz, Kluttig, Murphy, Stanley, Thera and Isabella Gaulden – are working on their third provincial championship and third undefeated season as graduates of the 2014 SLAM bantam A provincial winners. This is the last season they will be together before they disperse to high schools and programs of choice.
The next game is Wednesday versus the Leduc Lightning at 7:30 p.m. at Father Michael Troy School.
Three doubles’ teams from St. Albert qualified for the Alberta Winter Games in last weekend’s pre-event open bonspiel at the St. Albert Curling Club.
Megan Berg/Nicolas Oake (coached by Nicole Bellamy), Brennin Turner/Andrew McLeod (coached by Paul Turner) and Julia Bakos/Nathan Molberg (coached by Heather Steele) were among eight qualifiers from Zones 5 to 8 for the Feb. 13 to 17 competition in Medicine Hat.
The duo of Carmyn Penner/David Howes also reached the finals in the 16-team draw.
The Alberta winter and summer games are for athletes 11 to 17 years old.
Meanwhile, the annual OK Tire Men’s Bonspiel rocks the ice Thursday night at the St. Albert Curling Club. A new champion will be crowned with five-time winner Mike Hutchings not returning to defend his crown.
Last year Hutchings defeated Warren Sadoway 7-5 in the final of the 24-rink draw for a payout of $850.
