Kings 103 Griffins 85
If the RDC Kings opening game of the exhibition season means anything Central Alberta basketball fans are in for an entertaining time.
The Kings put on a show for the over 200 fans at RDC Friday as they opened the Sandman Hotel Fall Royalty Classic with a 103-85 victory over the MacEwan Griffins.
“We’re athletic, quick, can pass the ball and certainly fun to watch,” said Kings head Craig Behan. “And oh yes we can score.”
The Kings showed all those attributes with the only negative came on the defensive end, especially in the first half when they only managed to take a 57-52 lead into the break.
“We’ve only been working on defence for a week and a half, so it’s bound to be a little suspect,” said Behan. “It will come, but when you score 103 points you get away with some miscues this early.”
Graeme McCallum, who was the MVP when Douglas College of New Westminster won the national championship two years ago, led the Kings with 35 points while Chris Porteous, formerly of Capilano College in Vancouver, added 18. Gregg Frankson led the Griffins with 27 points.
Wolves 62 Queens 55
While the Queens dropped a 62-55 decision to the Grande Prairie Wolves on the women’s side of the tournament, there were more positive signs than at any time last season.
“We rushed things at the end a bit, which resulted in some little mistakes, but we improved our intensity and skill level from last season,” said Queens head coach Dawn Smyth. “The girls were a bit nervous early, but as we went on both the rookies and veterans settled down.”
The Queens fell behind 14-2 before coming back to eventually lead on three different occasions in the second half. However, in the end the Wolves height advantage was the difference.
“If Morgan (Rauser) was here it would have made a difference on the boards,” said Smyth, who is without her top rebounder for the weekend.
Trudie Lefurgey led the Queens with 17 points and 11 rebounds while point guard, Katlyn Olsen, out of Raymond, had 11 points, five steals and seven rebounds.
The Queens face SAIT at 10:30 a.m. and MacEwan at 5 p.m. today while the Kings take on NAIT at 7 p.m.
Volleyball
The RDC Queens split a pair of matches at the University of Regina tournament Friday.
The Queens lost 19-25, 23-25, 16-25 to the U of R and came back to beat the University of Saskatchewan 25-16, 25-11, 25-18.
Queens face the University of Calgary today.
drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com