Red Deer’s Hayley Lalor will be heading north next season to continue her basketball career.
The Grade 12 student at Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School will play for the Grant MacEwan University Griffins in 2018-2019, the team announced this week.
Lalor helped the Lindsay Thurber Raiders advance to the Alberta Schools Athletic Association 4A Basketball Provincials this season, while also serving as one of the team’s captains. She was the team MVP last season and has shaped her athletic career through a variety of sports including volleyball, badminton, tennis, cross-country and track and field.
“She’s got a motor and she’s a fierce, tough, gritty competitor,” said Griffins Women’s Basketball head coach Katherine Adams.
“She fits our style perfectly. So, we’re really looking forward to see how she can help us in that transition to play a different style and fitting in with the girls we have in the program now to help build that moving forward.”
Hayley’s sister Kelsey, was a guard for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies that won silver at the U Sports National Basketball Championships last season.
Basketball seems to run in the family, as her parents Dwayne and Kathy Lalor have long time coaches for the Raiders.
“Hayley does everything,” Adams added about the five-foot-eight guard.
“She’s an incredible athlete and is really going to help us change the style of game that we play – being able to push tempo, play a bit faster paced.”
The Griffins added two other guards to their roster for next season, Rachel Hare (Kelowna Secondary) and Madi McTighe (Calgary’s Bowness). Last year, Grant MacEwan went 4-16 in Canada West play.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter