The St. Albert Skyhawks continue to fly high as a 3A school in 4A women's basketball.
The St. Albert Catholic High School team, ranked fourth in 4A before the exam break, is 17-5 after losing five players to graduation from the 33-5 squad that failed to medal at provincials as the tournament's second seed.
"I actually think we're taking some people by surprise. People were thinking they were going to push us over, but no. We wanted to come out strong and finish what we did last year and try and overcome what happened (at provincials). We still want to keep SACHS's reputation going," said Grade 11 forward Lauren Cardinal after pouring in 18 points from all over the court against the O'Leary Spartans in Wednesday's 83-42 drubbing at the SkyDome.
The metro Edmonton finalists the last two years are 7-1 in division one despite a small lineup and short bench.
"We're adjusting," said Sam Dargis, a Grade 12 point guard. "We're focusing on ourselves and how to play better and how we have to make up for all the height and the strength that we lost by doing different things, like running and pressuring the ball differently than we were used to doing. We're going back to the old SACHS ways more than last year when we had all the height."
The Skyhawks ran the floor like a track meet against O'Leary (1-7) while cruising to period leads of 22-9 after the first, 45-17 at halftime and 62-35 after the third.
"We were competitive running down the floor, which is what we do best," Cardinal said. "We're considered one of the smaller teams of the league so we have to outrun and outwork players this season."
It was all Skyhawks after O'Leary hit two free throws in the opening minute and Cardinal led the charge with eight points in the first quarter.
It was 35-9 when O'Leary scored off a turnover with 4:18 left in the half.
Aphia Ward nailed four of the team's five three-points for a game-high 19 points.
Sarah Dedrick, the tallest Skyhawk at six feet, popped in 11 and Dargis, Jamie Bain and Alexie Push had eight apiece.
The Skyhawks dressed nine players with Grade 11 post Payton McNeill out with a concussion and everybody scored in the win.
"During a game you have to honour your minutes and make them count since there are only so many of us and we do a good job of that, just working hard and working for our team," Cardinal said of the nine-player lineup. "It's tough in practice because you can't really practise game plans as much but it's good conditioning. We're always ready to run because there are so few of us in practice."
The loss of McNeill, one of seven returning Skyhawks, "kind of dented us," according to Cardinal.
"It brought us down a bit but we're starting to make our way back up. It was like a little speed bump but we've learned to overcome that so we're not like drastically declining, we're doing good," said the tournament MVP at the Chinook Coyotes Classic in Lethbridge last month for the first-place Skyhawks.
After the exam break the Skyhawks are 4-1 overall.
"We're still kind of recovering from the break. We're still figuring out that we still need to run wide," Dargis said. "We're still a little sloppy at this point but once we start communicating again and getting back into that rhythm like we had before the break we'll all get going better."
The Skyhawks finished third at the Bishop Grandin Ghosts Tournament in Calgary last weekend. They rolled over Rundle College, ranked first in 2A, 103-39, lost 84-77 to the Ghosts, ranked ninth in 4A, and edged the Raymond Comets, a 4A honourable mention, 70-65. Ward, a tournament all-star, and Bain, the player of the game, came through in the clutch with under two minutes remaining to put the Skyhawks on top to stay.
"We played really good in our first game and then in our second game I don't know if it was fatigue or lack of communication but we kind of slowed down our momentum and we didn't have the performance we quite wanted to," said Dargis, who was selected to tournament's all-hustle team. "We ended up meeting Raymond for third place and we all played really solid. Everyone did their job and no one tried to do anything crazy so it was very good team performance."
PK vs. Skyhawks
The stands will be packed Monday, when the Battle of St. Albert between the Skyhawks and Paul Kane Blues tips off at 6:30 p.m. at the SkyDome.
"It will be a good game. It's always good rivalry. They will be ready and we'll be ready as well," Cardinal said.
The showcase event for St. Albert female basketball talent is shaping up to be a barnburner. Both teams, along with the two-time defending division one champion Spruce Grove Panthers, are tied for second at 7-1 in league play behind the 8-0 Jasper Place Rebels.
In the 4A rankings, the Rebels are third, the Panthers are eighth and Paul Kane is 10th.
"It's definitely an important game, just for pride obviously and for league play especially," said Cardinal, 16. "We also have to keep the reputation going. We haven't lost to them since I don't know how many years."
It was 2011 when the Paul Kane upset the Skyhawks, the eventual 3A provincial champions that year, 75-66 in the premier/division one semifinal at the SkyDome.
The Skyhawks out-scored the Paul Kane hosts 25-9 in the first quarter, en route to the convincing 73-46 decision last year.
Arguably the most talented Paul Kane team in years is 16-8 overall with two Grade 12s – captain Jenell Desharnais and Ashley Thomas from the 2015 division one semifinalists and provincial consolation finalists. There are also seven Grade 10s on the roster, including four from the undefeated 2015 Edmonton Youth Basketball Association and provincial champion St. Albert SLAM midget A team.
Rick Stanley, who coaches the SLAM midget A girls, is now coaching the lady Blues after a number of years guiding the Paul Kane men's team. It will be worth the price of admission to watch Stanley and Skyhawks' head coach John Dedrick, two animated bench bosses, instruct their players in Monday's tilt.
The last game for Paul Kane was Wednesday's 76-32 rout of the Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds (1-6) and four Grade 10 players led the team in scoring. Alesha Stanley and Anika Steele sank 14 points apiece, Bronwen Barter drained eight and Tegan MacKinnon added seven.
"PK is a good team. It will be a good game to come watch. We'll have the home court advantage so that will help us," said Dargis, 17. "In the end, it's going to come down to consistency and who can hit their shots."
Ironically, both teams could hug it out again Friday at the Titans Tri-Prov Tournament at Harry Ainlay High School. They are on the same side of the draw and Thursday it's Paul Kane against the Oak Park Raiders of Winnipeg at 9 a.m.
The Skyhawks, the defending champions, play the Duchess Park Condors of Prince George, B.C.
The winners tip-off Friday at 4 p.m. and the losing teams also meet at 4 p.m.
Visit triprov.ainlay.ca for the schedule.
