Kodiaks 90 Kings 66
LETHBRIDGE — The RDC Kings knew they were in tough against the nation’s top ranked team, but they still expected a better effort than what they got in their best-of-three Alberta Colleges Men’s Basketball League playoff opener on Friday.
The Kings were hammered 90-66 by the Lethbridge Kodiaks in what can only be called a wake up call for the outgunned team from Red Deer College.
“It’s like we were a bunch of deer jumping in the headlights, we were just all over the place,” said Kings head coach Steph Labrecque of their first half performance. “We didn’t play with a lot of composure and we struggled a lot in the first half. And then they got up and just put it in cruise control and we just couldn’t fight back to narrow the gap.
“It was a disappointing night for everyone.”
R.J Wells led the Kings with 22 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and four steals.
“He definitely played his part. He played 38 minutes and fouled out. He gave us everything that he had,” said Labrecque.
The big positive for the Kings is that they know they have can give the Kodiaks a much better game. They will have no choice but to find that game today for Game 2 at 7 p.m. in Lethbridge again, or their season will be over.
“I know we can play a lot better than what we did tonight. We match up well, we just didn’t do the little things that we talked about,” said Labrecque. “Some of our more consistent contributors struggled to find their shots and didn’t find their rhythm. Tomorrow we’ve got to figure some of that stuff out quick.”
If the Kings can force a Game 3 it will go Saturday at 2 p.m. in Lethbridge.
• The Kings’ Adam Shaw was named to the ACAC second all-conference team for the south division along with Jamar Coke, of Medicine Hat, Jared Cornish of Mount Royal, Matt Myers of Briercrest and Logan Reiter of Lethbridge.
Dominyc Coward and Morgan Duce of Lethbridge, Gradyn Childerose of Briercrest, Cam Dodd of Mount Royal and Scott Peris of SAIT were on the first team.
Mike Hansen of Lethbridge was the coach of the year in the south while Peter Sambu of Lakeland was the top coach in the north.
No members of the Queens made the all-conference teams for the women.
Rachel Caputo and Taylor Pillsworth of SAIT, Natalie Johnson of Lethbridge, Meagan Koroll of Medicine Hat and Jamie Morck of Mount Royal were on the women’s south division first team.
Donovan Martin of SAIT was the coach of the year in the south and Dave Waknuk of Grande Prairie the top coach in the north.
• Four members of the RDC squads were named to the ACAC volleyball all-conference teams.
Kings outside hitter Taylor Hunt was selected to the men’s first team with Queens Mandy Carroll, Robyn Denney and Jaclyn Neufeld all on the women’s second team.
Dan Durham of Mount Royal, Scott Lesher of Briercrest, Greg Mann and Carsten Moeller of NAIT, Jeff Marthaller of Lethbridge, Jeremy Potter of Grant MacEwan and Joel Van Huizen of The King’s University College were also on the men’s first team.
The men’s second team is Patrick Mead, Keith McLeod and Devon Van Nustelrooy of SAIT, Phil Duffy of Grande Prairie, Evan Ericson of Medicine Hat, Will Gelderman of King’s, Trevor Klassen of Briercrest and Craig Schatz of Lethbridge.
Mackenzie Allen and Breanna Estabrook of Mount Royal, Alexis Loewen of Briercrest, Katelyn Melnyk of Grant MacEwan and Kaila Whitton of King’s were also on the women’s second team.
The women’s first team consisted of Kacey Bowman and Kate Porta of Grande Prairie, Jenn Clayton of King’s Julia Pasieka and Andrea Price of Mount Royal, Brianne Collette of Lakeland, Daley Donaghy of SAIT and Megan Nagy of Medicine Hat.
Nigel Mullan of Briercrest was named the ACAC men’s coach of the year while Ron Thomson of Grande Prairie was the women’s coach of the year.
• Queens forward Jessica Abt was selected to the women’s second all-conference team along with Lindsey Audia of SAIT and Chrissy Hodgson of Mount Royal. NAIT’s Meghan Witt was in goal with Loralie Gingras of Grant MacEwan and Megan Price of Mount Royal on defence.
The first team consists of goaltender Kendall Kilgour, defenceman Jesslyn Legasse and forward Chelsey Morrill of Mount Royal, rearguard Nicole Gregoire and forward Sherri Bowles of NAIT and forward Tia Hanson of SAIT.
Mount Royal’s Scott Rivett was the coach of the year.
• The volleyball squads open their ACAC playoffs today with the Kings facing Grant MacEwan at 1 p.m. at The King’s UC in Edmonton and the Queens taking on King’s at 6 p.m. at Mount Royal.