The Notre Dame Cougars senior girls’ handball team began provincials on a positive note.
As the host school for the Alberta Schools Athletic Association High School Tier I Handball Provincial Championships, the girls took their opening game on Friday against Edmonton’s Harry Ainlay 25-21.
Head coach James Ward said they played as a group, their defence was strong, and they were patient on offence.
“We had a sense from the very beginning we were going to win it and everyone did their job,” he said.
The girls later on lost to Lillian Osborne out of Edmonton but will be back in action at 10:40 a.m. on Saturday. The senior boys’ team were also victorious on Friday against Lindsay Thurber on Friday 34-33.
“There’s nothing better than to host provincials in front of your hometown,” Ward added.
The senior boys and girls tournaments began on Thursday and will end on Saturday evening.
There were plenty of ups and downs for the Cougars this season that saw them take on Lindsay Thurber in the central zone championship final. Thurber went on to win and Ward said their rival earned it.
“We had a responsibility to make it difficult on them… Handball it’s a high-scoring game and even though it’s a 10-goal difference there are lots of different reasons for that,” he added.
Ward said they have just as good of a shot as any to come away with provincial gold this weekend.
Grade 12 Ella Black explained their success on Friday came down to how they set the tone.
“We came out and we said this is going to be our game. We’re going to play to the best of our abilities and I think we did that,” she said.
Black plans on competing at the post-secondary level next year but for now she’s focused on winning provincials in front of their home crowd.
“I get to play in front of all my friends and family. Just having that home-court advantage is really nice getting to play where you’re comfortable,” Black explained.
“I think we have the same shot as anybody else out here. We work really hard and I definitely think we make it to the final. We’re a really young team some new girls joined us this year but they’ve really shown up.”
Her teammate Olivia McAuley, who’s in Grade 11, echoed her sentiments.
“I think we played with pride. We were ready to play and we put everything out there… I think we have a chance to win provincials. If we play hard and everything goes our way I think we can do it.”
