Kodiaks 79 Kings 78
One would be hard pressed to find a lot of difference between the RDC Kings and Lethbridge Kodiaks.
That’s evident by looking at the scoreboard.
The last time the two met in Lethbridge the Kings pulled out a one-point victory on a late field goal by Ian Tevis. On Friday it was the Kodiaks turn as they registered a 79-78 victory in Alberta Colleges Men’s Basketball League play before a full house at RDC.
“Two league games come down to the wire … it was an even match where the little things that make a difference are magnified,” said Kings head coach Clayton Pottinger.
The Kings led most of the final quarter only to see Cory Richardson nail a three point basket late. The teams exchanged the ball with the Kings having the last shot only to see a three-pointer by Khurram Sultan bounce off the rim at the buzzer.
But that wasn’t the difference in the game, said Pottinger.
“They get a three at the end of the third and we miss some free throws and in a one-point game all those things matter.”
The Kings were playing a bit shorthanded with point guard Kai Greene sidelined, forcing Pottinger to start rookie Darryl Broderick.
“It hurt not having Kai, but it was good in that Darryl, Cody (White) and Shad (Mpiana) got more minutes which will only help them and us later on,” added Pottinger.
Ian Tevis led the Kings with 30 points, seven rebounds, two assists and three steals despite playing with a slight injury.
Matt Matear finished with 17 points and seven rebounds while Shayne Stumpf had 10 points and eight boards and Spencer Klassen had a solid game with nine points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The loss dropped the Kings into fourth place in the league with a 9-5 record. Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and SAIT are all 9-3.
The Kings get an opportunity for revenge today when the two meet at RDC following the women’s contest, which tips off at 1 p.m.
“The big thing today is defensively we have to stop gambling, trying to make the hero play,” said Pottinger. “That just opens us up for fouls or for them to get open shots. If we play solid half court defence without gambling we’re tough to score on.”
Broderick had 28 points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals for Lethbridge while Chris Maughan had 21 points – 17 in the second half.
Kodiaks 83 Queens 53
The Kodiaks showed why they’re the third ranked team in the country as they jumped into a 28-15 first quarter lead and coasted to an 83-53 victory over the Queens.
“Lethbridge is a great team, but not necessarily 30 points better than we are,” said Queens head coach Ken King.
“They do a lot of things a little better and are very consistent and have a consistent effort. We have our peaks and lulls which hurt us. The things is when we have the lulls we have to bounce back equally as hard and try to keep those lulls to a minimum.”
King also felt the first quarter did them in.
“We can’t start that way. The rest of the game we battled hard but we can’t allow 28 points in the first quarter. We have to start stronger.”
Turnovers also killed the Queens as they turned the ball over 35 times, which led to 40 Lethbridge points.
“We haven’t turned the ball over 20 times for the last two months,” said King.
“We have to be stronger with the ball and make better decisions.”
Still the veteran coach liked some of the things he saw.
“We found some things, especially on defence, I liked. We also saw some positive performances outside of our starting five.
“Dedra (Janvier) has been coming off the bench for us of late and she’s been one of our best players. It’s a credit to her, and it shows how much of a team player she is, in that being a fifth-year player she’s willing to come in off the bench. She’s performing at a high level and Keitlyn (Williams) also came in a tough situation and played a great game.”
Janvier was the RDC player of the game with 14 points and no turnovers. Williams finished with 11 points while Emily White had seven points and 12 rebounds and Maya Parker seven points. Logan Moncks had 29 points and Sunder West 19 for Lethbridge.
Danny Rode is a retired Advocate reporter who can be reached at drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com. His work can also be seen at Danny’s blog at rdcathletics.ca