Queens 64 Vikings 51
It wasn’t a game RDC Queens head coach Ken King expected big things from.
In fact their meeting with the University of Alberta Augustana Vikings in exhibition play at RDC Tuesday was simply a way to help prepare for the second half of the Alberta Colleges Women’s Basketball League
“We practiced yesterday and play today, so we didn’t have a lot of time on the court after the break,” said King. “Plus we have several people out with the flu, as do they, so it was kind of a rag-tag group today.”
Several of the players just arrived during the weekend, including Emily White, who was home in Denmark for the holidays.
“She got back on the first,, but there’s jet lag and Eva (Bonde) got back from home (Denmark) earlier, but she had a 62 hour return trip with long layovers in Amsterdam and Montreal.”
Still the Queens showed more positives than negatives as they seemed to find more rhythm as the game wore on.
They managed a 21-15 lead after the first quarter, but once the Vikings picked up their defence the Queens struggled to score, but still led 309-26 at the half. They led 44-35 after 30 minutes and their fourth quarter was solid, outscoring the Vikings 20-16.
“We were focusing in the first half on a number of small things, like lazy passing and playing defence for 18 seconds instead of 24,” said King. “We have to continue to clean those things up and in a way that the girls aren’t thinking of them rather just relaxing and playing. It got better near the end, but we still need to improve.”
Dedra Janvier led the Queens with 17 points as she nailed five three-pointers. Kiana Mintz added 13 points, White 11 and Brooke Kirkpatrick nine. Anna Montgomery and Sam Dargis had 10 points each for Camrose.
The Queens didn’t lose any players at Christmas and added forward Ashlee Ademolu, who was playing in the Red Deer Women’s League.
“Ashlee gives us more depth,” said King. “She’s athletic, is long and has some experience.”
The RDC teams return to league play Jan. 13 at SAIT. They host SAT Jan. 14.
The hockey Queens get action underway this week, hosting SAIT Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Centrium.
The volleyball teams host Olds Friday at 6 p.m. with the hockey Kings meeting NAIT Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Penhold Regional Multiplex.
The hockey Kings visit NAIT Friday, the hockey Queens are at SAIT Saturday and the volleyball teams are at Olds Saturday.
Danny Rode is a retired Advocate reporter who can be reached at drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com. His work can also be seen at Danny’s blog at rdcathletics.ca