After a dissappointing opening game, the 12th ranked Lindsay Thurber girls basketball team bounced back in the consolation bracket of the 4A provincials reeling off two wins.
The victories over the ninth ranked Cardston Cougars, 79-71, and 13th ranked Foothills Falcons, 72-43, put the girls into the consolation final Saturday morning.
After getting past the Falcons Friday morning, the Raiders were in a tough battle Friday evening against the higher ranked Cougars. Both games were played at Hunting Hills.
“We’ve been a pretty good team all year and we’ve played some great games, but obviously Thursday was disappointing,” said Raiders coach Kathy Lalor. “We played a good team, they’re big and they played bigger than they even are.
“We knew we were a better team than that and today, coming back, winning two games and getting to the consolation final. We’re pretty happy with that.”
After jumping out to an early lead, 26-19 after the first quarter, the teams traded the lead in the second quarter before the Raiders edged ahead and carried a 39-31 lead into half time.
The second half saw sustained pressure from the Cougars, but the Raiders matched the pressure and pulled ahead.
A dagger three-pointer from Hayley Lalor with less than two minutes to go iced the victory for the Raiders. Hayley led the team with 28 points while Kelsey Lalor had 22 points of her own.
“We shot well when we had to shoot well,” said Kathy Lalor. “It was a good team effort, we played tough defence and made some key shots at key times.”
The Cougars will face 10th ranked St. Mary’s today at 9 a.m. in the consolation final.
Falcons 76 Cougars 61
Within eight points at the half, the 13th ranked Notre Dame Cougars couldn’t make up enough ground and fell to the 12th ranked Foothills Cougars, 76-61 Friday afternoon in the Hunting Hills gym.
“A couple of our forwards played really well, we had a good defensive effort at times and our shooting came around in the second half,” said Cougars coach Stephen Merredew. “In the first half we were pretty cold, but we had a bit of a better effort in the second half.
“It’s a game where we were flat and not able to get any momentum against their tough zone defence.”
The Cougars close out their season in the 13th place game against 16th ranked Charles Spencer today at 11 a.m.
“For some of the guys its their last game,” said Merredew. “You always want to go out with a win.”
Blues 75 Lightning 47
After trading baskets early in the first quarter, the 11th ranked Paul Kane Blues pulled ahead and never looked back, cruising to a 75-47 win over the 14ht ranked Hunting Hills Lightning girls.
Down 65-38 at the end of the third quarter, the Lightning went on a 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter. But it was too little too late.
Madi Nimmo led the Lightning with 11 points while Kristen Loney scored 10 points.
The Lightning will play 15th ranked Charles Spencer in the 13th place game today at 11 a.m.
Voyageurs 80 Raiders 64
For the Lindsay Thurber boys basketball team, a disappointing loss to the 11th ranked M.E. Lazerte Voyageurs relegated them to the 13th place final.
The 14th ranked Raiders fell 80-64 on Friday afternoon at Camille J. LeRouge School.
In other boys action:
Eighth ranked Notre Dame (Calgary) upset top ranked Archbishop O’Leary 88-65 and then upset fourth ranked Lethbridge Collegiate Institute 75-69 to punch their ticket to the gold medal game.
They will face third ranked Raymond. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Lindsay Thurber.
Raymond won both of its games on Friday, defeating sixth ranked Lester B. Pearson 90-82 and then second ranked Harry Ainlay 98-89.
LCI will face Harry Ainlay at 3 p.m. at Lindsay Thurber in the bronze medal game.
In other girls action:
Top ranked St. Francis rattled off two wins Friday to earn their way into the gold medal game. They beat eighth ranked Bishop Grandin 69-59 and then bested fourth ranked Catholic Central 88-82.
They will face second ranked Jasper Place. Tip off is at 5 p.m. tonight at Lindsay Thurber.
Jasper Place topped third seed Western Canada 77-66 Friday evening to get to the final. Earlier in the day, Jasper Place defeated seventh ranked St. Albert Catholic 81-69.
Catholic Central will face Western Canada at 1 p.m. at Lindsay Thurber in the bronze medal game.