Queens 80 Trojans 49
RDC Queens head coach Ken King has been waiting for a game that showed his squad is ready to challenge the top teams in the Alberta Colleges Women’s Basketball League.
Saturday’s impressive 80-49 victory over the SAIT Trojans may just be the game he was looking for.
The Queens turned in a solid two-way performance to hand the Trojans their second loss of the season (7-2).
“I think it is easy to look at the 80 points we scored but I was even happier with the 49 against,” said King, whose squad ran their record to 4-7.
“Yesterday (a 74-65 loss at SAIT) the biggest difference was defence.”
Still the Queens turned in a solid offensive performance as they moved the ball with precision and consistently found the open player.
“Our offence isn’t challenging but it has to be executed and when we’re moving the ball everything comes easier,” added King. “But still the big thing was our defensive effort for 40 minutes whether we’re up or down.
“You know they’re going to score and there will be turnovers but overall the girls did a great job.”
The Queens finished with a respectable 18 turnovers while they had 12 steals. They held a 37-31 edge in rebounds.
Emily White led the Queens with 28 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and five blocks. Kayla Guillet had an outstanding game. The rookie from Medicine Hat finished with 11 points while Dedra Janvier added 10 and Brooke Kirkpatrick seven. Although Kiana Mintz finished with five points, Eva Bonde three, Maya Parker three, Mary Krause six, Keitlyn Williams three and Lauren Bailey four they all played a significant role in the victory.
“When you’re looking at offence you lose track at how important those girls were,” said King. “They didn’t score much but they were all difference makers.”
Martina Allen had 24 points for the Trojans, whose leading scorer – Alecia Tan – was held scoreless in 12 minutes of play. She left in the first half with a nose injury after a collision.
Trojans 91 Kings 87
The RDC Kings had a built-in excuse following their 91-87 loss to the SAIT Trojans.
For the second straight day they played one of the top teams in the ACAC without several important depth players.
Spencer Klassen, Shad Mpiana, Khurram Sultan and Jabin Binnedyk were all sidelined with a variety of injuries.
As a result the Kings went with 10 players with eight seeing floor time. Guards Kai Greene and Ian Tevis and forward Shayne Stumpf all played over 34 minutes for the second straight day and Matt Matear played 27 minutes despite foul problems.
“We were undermanned, which hurt but the biggest problems was we didn’t find the extra level and determination,” said Kings head coach Clayton Pottinger.
Then again that was due to the fact the players were losing their legs as they played for the second time in less than 20 hours.
“We were out rebounded (34-24) and they got 14 offensive boards and they got 20 points off turnovers, which hurts. But it was similar to last night where you could see fatigue setting in. Plus we made a comeback in the fourth quarter and that takes a lot of energy as well.”
The Kings trailed by seven late and narrowed the gap to two before Trojans John Smith nailed a long three to end any hopes of a comeback.
Rookie guards Cody White and Darryl Broderick saw significant time as a result of the short bench and both impressed.
White, a Notre Dame grade, nailed a pair of three point shots and finished with eight points while Broderick hit a three on his first-ever shot in ACAC play.
“Cody was phenomenal, as was Darryl. They earned more minutes,” said Pottinger.
Stumpf finished with 27 points while Greene was the RDC player of the game with 20 points, two rebounds and six assists. Tevis had 12 points and Matear nine points and nine rebounds. Dalhon Spencer had 24 points and Smith 23 for SAIT.
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