Griffins 77 Queens 51
The RDC Queens have a lot of work ahead of them to be where head coach Dawn Smyth wants them to be.
But it appears they’re headed in the right direction, even though the 77-51 loss to the Grant MacEwan University Griffins during the Sandman Inn Fall Royalty Classic basketball tournament at RDC Thursday may not have indicated it.
The last time the Queens faced the high-powered Griffins — two weeks ago — they lost by 40 points.
“They’re a veteran team with three fourth-year and three third-year players, with three players off the provincial team and one transfer from the University of Alberta, so compared to us they have a lot of experience,” said Smyth. “They’re undefeated in the preseason and beat Concordia, who is also one of the top teams in the league.”
The Queens, on the other hand, have six veterans, with only one — Lauren Loyek — in her third season.
“We’re definitely a lot younger, but I like what I see from our younger players,” added Smyth. “We definitely played a lot better against them today than a couple of weeks ago and I think that shows how smart we are. The girls were able to make some significant adjustments in those two weeks. Mind you we still need to work on some things, and this weekend will help in that area.”
The Queens also play the University of Northern B.C. from Prince George today at 6 p.m. and take on the Olds College Broncos Saturday at 4 p.m.
“UNBC is a great team with a lot of size and experience and Olds beat NAIT this year, so they won’t be a pushover. I like our schedule in that it pushes us.”
The Queens still need some work at both ends of the court.
“We scored more against them this time, but putting the ball in the hoop is still an issue we need to work on,” said Smyth. “Defensively I thought we were better, but we did give up some easy baskets in the fourth quarter.”
Smyth also used everyone off her bench, but at times it was the veterans that were turning the ball over.
“There were too many turnovers, which is something we’ll work on, but overall I thought we were moving in the right direction.”
Lisa Ivanic led the Queens with 14 points while Karlen Majcher added 10 and Loyek six.
In other women’s play Medicine Hat beat Olds 75-54 and SAIT downed UNBC 108-65.
Timberwolves 82
Kings 63
The RDC Kings got an indication of what level of basketball they’ll need to play if they expect to challenge for the Canadian championship when they faced the defending champion UNBC Timberwolves Thursday.
And while they showed flashes of their talent they still have some work to do as the 82-63 loss would indicate.
“We struggled at times and that has a lot to do with our youth,” said Kings head coach Stef Labrecque. “We have a lot of guys just out of high school while they’re loaded with fourth and fifth year players.”
The Kings actually won two of the four quarters, but the two they lost weren’t pretty.
After leading 18-13 at the end of the first quarter, the Kings fell behind 39-31 at the half and then were outscored 27-12 in the third quarter.
“Twelve points by a college team just won’t cut it,” said Labrecque. “They managed just 13 points in the first quarter, but have a lot of poise and didn’t let it bother them.”
Adam Shaw, Eric Bakker and Jordan Stevens had 12 points each for RDC while Lloyd Strickland was their player of the game.
One of the big differences came on the boards as guard Kendell Boese and Bakker led the team with five each.
“That was one of the tales of the tape,” said Labrecque.
The Kings won’t have time to relax as they face the defending national silver medalist SAIT Trojans today at 8 p.m. and meet the NAIT Ooks Saturday at 6 p.m. NAIT is expected to be one of the top-ranked teams in the country this season.
In other men’s play Augustana stopped SAIT 74-70 and NAIT whipped Olds 110-45.
drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com