The St. Albert Skyhawks rewrote the record book with their third consecutive provincial championship in high school women's basketball.
Saturday's 68-64 championship triumph against the McCoy Colts of Medicine Hat by the 3A powerhouse was pure gold for the third year in a row.
"It's never been done in history. It's really amazing what we've done," said co-captain Kendall Lydon after the trophy presentation at Camrose Composite High School. "I'm so excited right now. My adrenaline is pumping. This is the best feeling ever."
Winning the rematch of the 2011 final was extra special for the Skyhawks after losing twice to McCoy last month in consecutive tournaments.
"It really fuelled our fire and got us going. It made winning tonight that much more sweeter," said co-captain Katie Burak. "We've been focusing on this game and building towards it ever since we knew we were going to provincials and right from the beginning, our determination set the tone for the rest of the game."
McCoy was seeded first in the 12-team draw on the strength of two victories by two points against the Skyhawks in the Spruce Grove semifinal and the Wetaskiwin final.
"We went into the final really mentally prepared. We knew they would fight hard and that's what we did, too," said co-captain Zoe Downing.
The Skyhawks opened the scoring with four field goals before McCoy pulled even with 2:08 left in the first quarter.
Haley England's thee-point play in the last minute before quarter time put the Skyhawks up by five. The Grade 12 Skyhawk dominated the paint for nine points in the first quarter and then dropped in 10 in the next quarter. She finished the game with a team-high 26 points.
"It's my job to finish when my teammates give me great passes and when I was open they would give me the ball," England said.
In the second quarter the Skyhawks scored eight unanswered points to lead by 11 and went into the half-time break in control at 34-22.
The undefeated metro Edmonton premier champions threatened to pull away after a three-pointer by Downing and Amber Easthope's layup during a 19-second span to extend the lead to 17 with 2:12 gone in the third quarter.
Four minutes later, Lydon nailed a three-pointer from in front of a boisterous Skyhawks' cheering section to widen the gap to 46-34.
Before the period ended, Lydon's acrobatic layup and Burak's extra effort to convert an offensive rebound in the low post maintained the Skyhawks' healthy lead.
In the last quarter McCoy outscored the rattled-looking Skyhawks 14-6 to pull into a tie at 56 with 5:12 remaining.
"They came right back and they were pounding it. You could tell they wanted it," Downing said. "The second it became tied, that pushed us forward to go out and take it from them because we wanted it just as bad as they did."
Easthope put the Skyhawks ahead to stay by converting a steal at mid-court into a layup.
After a big stop on defence by the Skyhawks, Paige Knull drained a shot before the shot clock expired to make it 60-56 with 3:57.
Three times McCoy pulled to within two of the Skyhawks, but Lydon replied twice for baskets and set up England once to restore the four-point advantage.
"We kept our composure against a pretty good team," Lydon said.
A turnover allowed McCoy to cut the lead in half with 26.8 seconds on the clock. Lydon was later fouled and she sank the first of two free throws to make it a three-point spread.
After McCoy was called for travelling in the Skyhawks' zone, Easthope was fouled and the Grade 11 guard hit the second free throw with 7.3 seconds to go to seal the deal at 68-64.
"It was crucial and I'm really glad I made it," Easthope said. "It was so exciting how it ended. There were a lot of highs and lows. They battled and we battled. It was just a great team effort to win it at the end. We couldn't have ended it any better."
Lydon finished the final with 17 points. A concussion forced the Grade 12 all-star guard to miss most of the first game against McCoy in Spruce Grove and all of the second game in Wetaskiwin.
Easthope chipped in with 13 points and Downing celebrated her 18th birthday with seven.
"This is the best feeling in the world. Not only to be 18, that's kind of sweet, but then to three-peat is absolutely unreal," Downing said.
Last year the Skyhawks were seeded second at provincials and in the final beat McCoy, the top seed, by 11 points.
"We didn't want anybody else in the final but McCoy. They're great competition and it's always a good game because they make us work for stuff," England said. "Shooting-wise and driving-wise McCoy is just as good as we are, but when it comes to hustling and being a team, that's what we have over them."
The 34th win in 40 games completed a season to remember.
"We won as a team and that's what got us here," England said.
FREE THROWS: The second-seeded Skyhawks tipped off provincials with a convincing 75-28 victory over seventh-seeded Springbank Phoenix in the quarter-finals. Lydon tacked up 16 points, England added 13 and Knull had 11.
In the semifinals the Skyhawks downed the third-seeded Holy Trinity Academy Knights 81-40. Lydon scored a game-high 25 points and England and Knull had 12 apiece. Knull was the top rebounder with 12. Burak grabbed 11 and Kayla Ivicak reeled in 10.
