Queens get first win of season
It’s been a long time since the RDC Queens basketball squad held the spotlight over the Kings in Alberta Colleges Basketball League play.
But that was the scenario Friday as the Queens picked up their first victory of the season with a 65-51 victory over the Lethbridge College Kodiaks while the Kings were losing 103-82.
“That first one is always the hardest,” said Queens head coach Mike Woollard, who dressed 11 first-year players, much like the Kodiaks, who had nine rookies on their roster.
“They’re a good team . . . a better team than their record (0-11) and we’ll have to be ready for tomorrow,” added Woollard. “It won’t be easy. We have work to do tonight and tomorrow before the game.”
The Queens host the Kodiaks at 1 p.m. today with the men to follow.
The teams battled for three quarters before the Queens, who led 46-43 after 30 minutes, pulled away in the fourth.
“I was proud of the poise of the girls just before the half, before the end of the third quarter and then in the final five minutes of the game,” said Woollard. “They played under control and on balance.
“They remembered to look at the rim before shooting,” he added with a laugh.
Despite the fact they started pulling away late Woollard wasn’t comfortable until the final seconds.
“Looking at our record you’re never comfortable, but I did feel we were going to do the right things and we did.”
Guard Amrei Bondzio played a major role down the stretch as she not only played under control, but hit seven of her 16 points in the final three minutes.
“Amrei hit the big shots when we needed them and Carly Hoar did a great job defensively on one of their top players,” added Woollard. “She was up against Jackie Tollestrup, who was an all-star in high school and was in the States earlier this year before coming back at Christmas. She’s a great player and Carly was right on her, forcing her to make tough plays.”
Six-foot-two Desirae Peterson was named the RDC player of the game as she hit 17 points, grabbed six rebounds and was strong defensively inside.
“Desirae did some very good things,” said Woollard.
“She had a mismatch inside and we were able to use that to open up some of our outside shooting. As well she’s starting to see her game come around after not playing for two years after high school.”
Melissa Woolley added eight points for RDC while Sidney Carlson had 17 points and Tollestrup 13 for Lethbridge.
Kodiaks 103 Kings 82
The Kings didn’t look like the second ranked team in the country, or at least the Kodiaks made them look very ordinary, especially in the third quarter.
The Kings, who never seemed to find a rhythm on offence, trailed 47-41 at the half, but were outscored 33-14 in the third quarter.
“Hats off to Lethbridge, they played a terrific brand of basketball,” said Kings head coach Clayton Pottinger. “They pushed the ball, shot the ball extremely well and gave us a lesson in transition ball and defence.”
The Kings, who lost six-foot-eight Sam Lolik at Christmas and added Mari Peoples-Wong and Damaine Nelson, didn’t seem to have the chemistry they showed in the first half of the season.
“That’s something we can improve on, we don’t have the same chemistry yet, but I’m not sure that would have helped us tonight,” said Pottinger, who said he’d take responsibility for the loss.
“I didn’t have them prepared. We have to be ready for any style of play and we weren’t for the most part tonight.”
The Kodiaks also shot 51.5 per cent from the field while RDC connected on only 37.2 per cent of their field goals.
Ashaunti Hogan had 17 points and seven rebounds for RDC while Matt Johnson had 16 points and Rob Pierce 12 points and 13 boards. Peoples-Wong added 10 points.
Rob Olsen had 26 points and 13 boards for Lethbridge while former Raymond star Jimmy Ralph, who just joined the team at Christmas added 24 points.
Hockey Queens 4 Trojans 2
The Queens missed an opportunity for back-to-back shutouts as they gave up a pair of late third-period goals, but they managed a sweep over the SAIT Trojans in Alberta Colleges Women’s Hockey League play.
The Queens won 5-0 Thursday and led 4-0 Friday before SAIT managed to break Camille Trautman’s shutout string at 115 minutes and 59 seconds.
Gillian Altheim was outstanding up front with two goals and two assists, which gave her a league-leading seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points in 12 games.
Megan Jones added a pair of helpers while Jade Petrie and Nikki Connor added single markers.
Volleyball Queens 3 Wolves 1
The Queens ran their record to 9-2 on the season with a 25-18, 25-23, 26-28, 25-23 victory over the Grande Prairie Wolves.
“We played good despite having some bus legs,” said Queens head coach Talbot Walton. “We could have won that third set, but the girls looked a bit tired and made some mistakes. But we were able to grind it out and all-in-all played a strong match.”
Brooke Sutter was the RDC player of the match with 29 digs, 11 kills and two blocks while Amber Adolf had 15 digs and four kills.
Kings 3 Wolves 1
The Kings, much like the Queens, did enough to win 25-18, 25-27, 25-20, 25-21 as they shook off the long bus trip.
“They played us tough as well,” said Kings head coach Aaron Schulha, whose squad is 11-0. “But we did some good things and while we let them back in the match at times, we were tough when we needed to be.”
Setter Sam Brisbane was the RDC player of the match with two aces, two stuff blocks and five digs. Braden O’Toole, who was on the right side in place of Chris Osborn, who remained at RDC for the weekend, had 14 kills and two aces. Tim Finnigan added 13 kills and 13 digs.
Osborn was eligible to play, but remained home to finish off some school work.
The teams play Grande Prairie again today. They face SAIT next weekend, beginning Friday at RDC.
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