Hoop Queens thrilled to acquire big guard
Dawn Smyth still has a lot of work ahead of her as she strives to bring the RDC Queens basketball program back to prominence.
But she took a step in that direction last week.
Smyth received word that highly recruited guard Megan Ivancic of Spruce Grove has committed to attend RDC next season. Ivancic was a member of Basketball Alberta’s Centre of Performance, which is a program for the top 25 players in the province between the ages of 13 and 17.
“Megan is definitely a big addition to our program,” said Smyth. “She’s playing point guard for her school and is considered the top shooter in the Edmonton league.”
The five-foot-seven Ivancic has received attention from a number of colleges, but committed to RDC following a recruiting trip two weeks ago.
Word on Ivancic’s decision has already spread in the basketball communities.
“I’ve talked with a couple of players, who already know of Megan’s decision,” said Smyth, who’ll spend even more time on the recruiting trail after the Queens finish their Alberta Colleges Women’s Basketball League season against the Briercrest Bible College Clippers this weekend in Caronport, Sask.
“Receiving a commitment from a player of Megan’s abilities will be a influence when our recruiting,” said Smyth. “There’s a girl from southern Alberta, who is a friend of Megan’s from the Centre of Performance, and she’s interested in the program as well.
She’ll be in Red Deer in the next week to see the city and the college.”
Smyth feels players such as Ivancic, are excited about being part of a building program.
“I believe they don’t necessarily want to go to an established program and just fill in a hole, but they want to be part of establishing a program. In that they can be proud of what they accomplish.”
Smyth is only in her second season with the Queens. And while the team goes into the weekend with a 1-17 record, she sees improvement.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done, but some of the players have stepped up and will continue to improve. There’s more interest in the program. I get three or four emails a week from players interested in the team. That never happened two years ago.”
Smyth has a number of players returning next season, including Trudie Lefurgey, who was one of the players who took several strides forward this season, and six-foot-two post player Morgan Rauser, who is one of the top rebounders in the league.
Smyth will be spending a good deal of time scouting Alberta this year, although she’ll still look at Saskatchewan and B.C.
“There’s a good group of girls coming out of Alberta and being in the middle of the province we get a chance to recruit from both the north and the south,” she said. As for the number of players she’ll bring in is up in the air.
“We need a point guard and another post, but really we’re looking at all positions,” she said.
The basketball Kings need to win one of their two weekend games against the Clippers to wrap up second place in the south and earn home court advantage in the best-of-three quarterfinals. The Kings have a 13-5 record with third-place Lethbridge at 12-6.
If things finish as they now stand the Kings would host Lakeland College Rustlers of Lloydminster for all three games, Feb. 27-March 1.
• The hockey Queens face NAIT in a home-and-home series — Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Arena and Saturday at NAIT — and can wrap up third place in the league with a sweep.
The Queens, 9-9-2, are one point up on the MacEwan Griffins, 8-9-3, who face the last-place Mount Royal College Cougars in a twin bill.
• RDC will host the ACAC badminton playoffs this weekend. The national qualifying tournament for doubles and mixed doubles is set for Saturday with the team championships Sunday.
The doubles qualif8ying goes Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. with the mixed doubles set for 3-6 p.m.
The team semifinals go from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday with the final and bronze medal competitions from 1-3 p.m.
• The volleyball teams are finished league play. The Kings will face NAIT in a best-of-three qualifying series, Feb. 20-22, while the Queens are off until the league finals, Feb. 27-March 1 at Mount Royal.
• Volleyball Queens veteran middle Dana Fox received the Booster Juice RDC female athlete of the week award while basketball’s Randy Davis took the top male award.
Fox recorded 18 kills and 11 stuff blocks as the Queens swept a weekend doubleheader from Lethbridge.
Davis led the Kings to a weekend split with Lethbridge averaging 28 points and seven rebounds per game.
Contact Danny Rode at drode@reddeeradvocate.com
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