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RDP Kings and Queens basketball sweep weekend games

Both teams beat the Briercrest Clippers
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RDP Kings guard Josh Jean looks to pass in ACAC action against the Briercrest College Clippers Saturday afternoon at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre. (Photo by Ian Gustafson/ Advocate staff)

Kings 82 Clippers 68

Queens 83 Clippers 71

The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings and Queens basketball teams came ready to play over the weekend.

In their return from the holiday break the Kings and Queens both swept the Briercrest College Clippers to start the second half of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference off the right way.

The Kings dominated the Clippers 82-68 Saturday afternoon, while the Queens won 83-71.

Kings head coach Darren Graham said he really liked his team’s offence but admitted the defence could be improved.

“We moved and shot the ball really well into the 50 per cent area. Cole Wicker was really sharp from the three-point line he kind of led the way this weekend,” Graham said.

“The defence needs some work but at the same time Briercrest they’re kind of wily. They get some unorthodox shots off and they’re going to grind for 40 minutes so give them credit for making it tough on us on defence.”

The Kings outscored their opponents in every quarter except the fourth and their offence led the way shooting just over 50 per cent from the field.

Wicker led the way with 19 points on seven for 15 shooting from the field. He also added five assists and five rebounds in the win. Eduardo Crespo also had a productive day producing 15 points and seven rebounds. José Mauro Barrozo Júnior had a double-double scoring 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Graham added defensively they’ve been focusing on defensive communication and rotation, which includes running out to shooters on the perimeter and rotating to the interior.

“That’s what we’ll be working on all week with a matchup with Ambrose coming up…,” he said. “I think it’s fundamental when it comes to team defence and we work on it in practice all the time.

“To be honest it looks good in practice but we’ve got to make sure it translates to games… The offensive end comes relatively easy to this group but we’ve got to work on the defensive end if we want to be an effective playoff team and beyond.”

Queens head coach Avery Harrison said it felt great to get a couple wins coming back from the break.

“We’ve been saying all along since Christmas that we play this one game at a time, one quarter at a time, and one shift at a time. If we win every quarter we’ll win every game,” he said.

Harrison explained he liked his team’s offence in the first half but in the second half, they relied on their defensive effort after only scoring 11 in the third and 18 in the fourth.

“In the second half, we just shut them down compared to the 43 points in the first half. That was our key our defence was going to keep us going,” he said.

Sophie Melin won player of the game after a 22-point performance on seven of 15 shooting from the field, six of those from three-point land. Sandra Garcia-Bernal added 21 points and Lauren France contributed 14 points off the bench.

“I liked our hustle and intensity, and I liked our support of each other out there. I didn’t like our field goal percentage in the second half we shot under 30 per cent both quarters. I mean we’ve got to pick up on that,” he added.

The Kings and Queens will return to the court next weekend with back-to-back games against Ambrose University on Friday and Saturday.

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RDP Queens’ guard Sandra Garcia-Bernal puts up an open shot against the Briercrest College Clippers Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Ian Gustafson/ Advocate staff)


Ian Gustafson

About the Author: Ian Gustafson

Ian began his journalism career as a reporter in Prince Albert, Sask. for the last three years, and was born and raised in Saskatchewan.
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