Local Sports

The Bentley Generals are truly wary of the Stony Plain Eagles.After rallying from three games down to defeat the Fort Saskatchewan Chiefs 4-1 in deciding contest of a best-of-seven Alberta senior AAA hockey semifinal Saturday, the Eagles are clearly not flying under the radar heading into Friday’s provincial championship series opener at Bentley.

There were no alternatives for the Red Deer Vipers.It was do-or-die Wednesday night at the Arena and they weren’t about to be buried on home ice. That determination paid off big time as the Vipers skated to a 5-0 win over the Blackfalds Wranglers in front of close to 250 fans.

BLACKFALDS — The Blackfalds Wranglers have pretty much corralled the Red Deer Vipers.Jared Kambeitz scored on a wrap-around at 6:35 of overtime Sunday to give the Wranglers a 6-5 win over the Vipers and a 3-0 chokehold in the best-of-seven Heritage Junior B Hockey League Northern Division final.

The way the Red Deer Optimist Rebels Chiefs opened their Alberta Midget Hockey League playoff series against the Calgary Buffaloes at the Arena Sunday afternoon it made you wonder which team was the regular season champions.

Hunting Hills Lightning head coach Scott Doan decided to open the best-of-three Central Alberta zone 4A high school boys’ basketball playoffs on the road with the idea of being able to win the title on home court.Mission accomplished, but it was anything but easy.

If the Lindsay Thurber Raiders aren’t at the top of their game they have little chance of handling the Hunting Hills Lightning.That was the case as the two opened their best-of-three zone 4A boys’ basketball playoff at LTCHS Tuesday.The Lightning showed early on why they’re the top team in the conference storming out to an early lead and going on to down the Raiders 88-69.

Dustin Sproat snapped a pair of goals Friday as the Bentley Generals defeated the host Sylvan Lake Admirals 7-4 to complete a sweep of a best-of-seven provincial senior AAA hockey semifinal.

It didn’t take long for the Red Deer Optimist Rebels Chiefs to get back on track.Less than 48 hours after turning in a so-so performance in a 2-1 double overtime loss to the UFA Bisons in Strathmore Thursday, the Rebels were going full speed in recording a 7-2 victory over the Bisons and taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five Alberta Midget Hockey League South Division semifinal series at the Arena Sunday afternoon.

Possibly the greatest long track speed skating sprinter in history is to be honoured by the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.Red Deer’s Jeremy Wotherspoon, who had 67 career victories and 13 World Cup titles, will be inducted in the Hall, May 24 at the Sheraton Hotel, it was announced during a media gathering at the Hall of Fame Thursday.

It came down to execution and in the end the Lindsay Thurber Raiders held a slight edge over the Notre Dame Cougars.The Raiders did what they had to over the final two minutes to pull out a 75-71 victory over the Cougars in the zone 4A high school boys’ basketball semifinal at LTCHS Thursday.