The RDC Kings gave the hometown crowd an indication as to why they’re the fourth ranked team in the country, but it was the Queens who stole a major portion of the spotlight in their Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference Basketball League meeting with Lakeland College Rustlers Friday.
Despite playing without star forward Desirae Paterson, who was out following minor surgery, the Queens ran their winning streak to three games with a 69-62 victory over the Rustlers, who came in with a 3-1 record.
“We were playing with a pretty big piece of our team out, but we attacked the ball, rebounded well and played a zone they may not be used to,” said Queens head coach Mike Woollard. “We flew around in it and gave them problems. It was a big effort against a team we have to beat if we want to get to where we want to be.”
What impressed was the fact the Queens didn’t allow the Rustlers to take control of the game when they did make a run.
“The girls beared down and showed the heart we have to have to make this one of the toughest buildings in the league to play in,” added Woollard. “It’s been a building process over the last two years, but you’re starting to see it and it’s exciting. It’s about being consistent. Now we need to continue to work on taking care of the basketball then we’ll take that next step.”
The teams were tied at 44 after three quarters and 51-51 midway through the final period. However, in each case the Queens found the offence needed to regain the momentum.
“We were looking for shooters with Desirae out and Dedra (Janvier) stepped up with some big points and Mo (Mozanga Ekwalanga) had a strong game. With Desirae out it took a six-foot-two girls out of the lane and opened it up for our guards to drive a bit more and find the open shooter. It’s something we’ve work on in practice and it showed.”
Queens also got a strong defensive effort from captain Sarah Williamson, who scored six points, grabbed six rebounds and three steals until she dislocated her little finger on her left hand late.
“Sarah was everywhere defensively for a period of time. She’s our captain and leader and we feed off her,” said Woollard.
Ekwalanga led the Queens with 21 points while Janvier added 12, Foley nine and Maneshu Sidhu seven. Cameo McKerlie had 26 points for Lakeland.
Kings 95 Rustlers 37
The Kings put the game away before it was seven minutes old, grabbing a 24-2 lead.
“It was a great start,” said Kings head coach Clayton Pottinger.
“It’s something we’ve been talking about, making a statement early on. As well we played great defence, holding them to under 10 points in three of the four quarters.”
The Kings led 26-8, 47-22 and 71-28 by quarters as they ran their record to 6-0.
What impressed Pottinger was the fact the Kings were still playing defence late in the game.
“We had our second lineup in their and they kept the intensity up. I’m proud of the way we competed. It was our most complete game at both ends of the floor this season.”
Mari Peoples-Wong led the Kings with 22 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals. Clay Crelin added 20 points and five boards while Brian Prenoslo had nine points and six rebounds and Ashaunti Hogan and Matt Johnson added eight points each.
The five-foot-11 Hogan, who is still recovering from an ankle sprain, got the fans and the team off their seats late in the game with a slam dunk.
The RDC teams now have the rest of the long weekend off before preparing for a home-and-home series against SAIT next weekend.
Volleyball: Queens 3 Kodiaks 1
The Queens had some bus legs as they met the Lethbridge College Kodiaks in ACAC play Friday, but once they got into a rhythm it was all RDC in a 22-25, 25-15, 25-15, 25-16 victory in Lethbridge Friday.
“There was bus legs in that first set, but in the second set (setter) Bronwyn (Hawkes) did a great job of isolating our hitters for one-on-ones and our middle blockers started to take control,” said Queens head coach Talbot Walton.
Middle Megan Schmidt was the player of the match with five kills and six stuff blocks while Shelby Bramal chipped in with six kills and three blocks.
Overall the Queens finished with 16 stuff blocks.
Amber Adolf had 12 kills, five digs and two blocks while Karissa Kuhr had 11 kills, two aces, seven digs and a block. Brooke Sutter had four kills, 10 digs and two blocks while Hawkes had nine digs and libero Maddi Quinn had 14 digs.
Walton feels the Queens, 5-0, can still play better.
“We were still a touch off, but we were stable enough that they gambled a lot and took chances which worked in our favour,” he said.
The Queens face the Kodiaks again today at 1 p.m.
The Kings received a pair of wins without playing as the Lethbridge men’s program has been suspended for the rest of the season following the suspension of most of their team, following drug allegations