The Notre Dame Cougars Senior Girls are the zone handball champions once again.
The Cougars took down the St. Joseph Falcons 15-9 on Friday night at Hunting Hills to earn a spot in the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Conference Tier I Provincial Championships next weekend.
Head coach James Ward said his team really came together throughout the season and played their best game when it mattered most.
“The mindset of the girls was to win and earn the win. They have to be strong on defence and they have to keep pushing out and create their own luck. Be patient. Where we capitalize is playing an aggressive type of game,” Ward said.
“I thought all the girls contributed. They all stepped up. They knew their roles.”
Grade 12 Kayla Nesseth, one of four on the team said she’s excited to head back to Provincials and was proud of the way her team played in the zone final.
“I feel like today was our best game yet, we had some really good momentum,” she said.
“We progressed a lot throughout the season. I think we’ll do really well at provincials.”
Jenna Hollman, also a grade 12 said with a roster that was relatively new this season, there was plenty of growth this season.
“We started with a bunch of new players who hadn’t really played before… we had to start fresh this year. We’ve grown a whole bunch and I’m excited to see what provincials will be like,” Hollman said.
Anne-Marie Purdy scored four times in the win, Hollman, Janelle Agot, Ireland Black and Brooke Litwinski each added two.
The St. Joseph Falcons will play the Lindsay Thurber Raiders for the second Central Alberta spot at Provincials which go April 27-28 in Spruce Grove.
The Notre Dame Cougars Senior Boys also advanced to the ASAA Handball Tier 1 Provincials on Friday night.
The Cougars pulled away in the second half and beat the Hunting Hills Lightning 30-14 to win the Central zone title.
“Hunting Hills played with a lot of emotion early,” Cougars head coach Dale Henderson said.
“They’re a little inexperienced– they’re good athletes, but they’re just inexperienced in handball and I have a pretty experienced team. As the game wore on I think our experience came through and took over. I was pretty happy with the way we played in the second half.”
Notre Dame lead just 12-10 after the first half but found their offensive flair in the second.
Alex Groenen scores 10 goals for Notre Dame and Ty Moline added five. Brett Porter also had four goals.
They’ll return to provincials again after winning the zone last season.
“I think we have a legitimate shot to compete. We’re going to have to play very good,” Henderson said.
“We’re close, but we have to play well.”
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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