Lightning 65 Raiders 55 (Lightning win best-of-three series)
Cougars 68 Raiders 51 (Cougars win best-of-three series)
On a bizarre day in the sports world, the Hunting Hills Lightning and Lindsay Thurber Raiders senior girls just played.
Sports across the world were canceled minute by minute as the day unfolded Thursday and while the gym was a bit quieter with only friends and family in attendance at Lindsay Thurber, the players managed to just play.
It was an intense battle right from tip-off for the two longtime rivals in Game 2 of the best-of-three 4A Central Alberta Schools Athletic Association basketball final.
The Raiders held leads at halftime and by one-point after three quarters, but the top-ranked Lightning showed their grit and determination in the fourth, putting together a 17-2 run to start the final quarter on the way to the win.
With the 65-55 win over the Raiders, it was the first zone victory for Hunting Hills since 2012.
“Especially in the fourth quarter, they were so gutsy. After the third quarter, all I had to say was, hey guess what, we won that quarter because they didn’t see it that way, it was such a hard fight,” said Lightning coach Jill DeJonge.
With the Lightning up 56-51 and only 1:46 to go, Marissa Richards hit a pair of clutch shots to help her team pull away. Richards finished the contest with 28 points, while Taylor Blais chipped in 16 points.
“Marissa had a terrific game, she’s a really good defender but she showed up offensively, scored 28 points she was really good for us. Clutch three-point shot at the end,” DeJonge said.
Lightning grade 10 guard Paige Roslinsky also played a huge role defensively in the win, locking down the Raiders late in the game.
“She is just such a competitor. She’s in Grade 10 and she went out there and played lights out defence. She was a difference-maker, it was awesome,” DeJonge said.
Hannah Wirtanen had 19 points in the loss for the Raiders.
Tough news came for the Lightning girls post-game, as they found out that the Alberta Schools Athletic Association had postponed the high school Basketball Provincial Championships amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
In the 4A boys Game 2 of the best-of-three final, it was another physical and hard-fought battle between the Raiders and Notre Dame Cougars.
Notre Dame scored in waves on Tuesday night at home but needed a much more gritty effort Thursday against the Raiders to pull off the victory.
They ground out a 68-51 win to close out the series and win the school’s first title since 2015 and fourth since 2000.
“I’m so proud of them. They dug deep and played so hard. Thurber played hard and it was a very competitive game. It was a physical game,” said Cougars coach Dale Henderson.
The Raiders at times used four bigs, which clogged the lane and made it difficult to score. It was late in the second quarter when the Cougars finally managed to find a way through and from there, they pulled away.
“They put three big guys, almost four big guys at one time and we took a while to adjust to that. Eventually, we did, I’m proud of the fact we did, but it definitely took a while and it had me worried,” Henderson added.
The scoring was spread out for the Cougars, with Brayden Hessler leading the way with 14 points. Mason Empey chipped in 12.
While it was jubilation for Notre Dame in the victory, they also received word before the game that provincials had been called off because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Henderson said he just feels horrible for the Grade 12 players who had been looking forward to that chance for a long time.
” Just crushed that we don’t get to go next week. I understand it and it’s the way the world is right now. It’s a very scary place,” he said.
“I’m crushed for the boys, especially the Grade 12s. We just heard about it before the game, the boys knew it, but they wanted to finish strong.”
