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RDP Queens prepare for CCAA Nationals

Queens won provincials last weekend
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The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens basketball team is headed to the CCAA Nationals after winning the ACAC Championship last weekend. (Photo by Red Deer Polytechnic Athletics)

The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens basketball team is still on cloud nine.

Just last weekend the Queens won their first Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship since 1992 after they beat the Alberta-Augustana Vikings 69-44 in the gold medal game.

It’s been 31 years since the Queens last won the ACAC Championship and they’re certainly not taking it for granted.

“It’s definitely a surreal feeling,” said Queens captain Sophie Melin. “It’s always been the end goal but to finally reach that after 31 years it’s a big achievement.”

The Queens played some tight games throughout the tournament including a 66-63 semi-final win over Briercrest College. Melin explained their mindset of trying to not get too far ahead of themselves in those moments.

“We always talk about wanting to keep our composure and take it one play and one stop at a time. I think that’s what made us successful in the end,” she added.

Red Deer also extended their winning streak to 15 straight victories that first began in November 2022 when they grabbed a win right before the Christmas break.

“Knowing how hard we worked and how many hours we’ve been in the gym practicing… It finally paid off the way we wanted it to. It’s an incredible feeling,” Melin said.

Their focus now turns to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Women’s National Championship in Hamilton, Ont. where they will go up against Canada’s best.

Melin said they’re up for the challenge.

“That’s what makes us a good team. We take it one game at a time we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves… We’re going to go in and give it our all. That’s what we’ve been doing and so far it’s working,” she said.

Head coach Avery Harrison added they’re peaking at the perfect time.

All year long they focused on improving their fundamentals and skills and it paid off.

“At the end of the year come playoff time that’s when the product happens. I think that’s exactly what happened here is that we went process to product and now we’re where we want to be,” he said.

This season they’ve found something every week that needed a slight tweak. They spent a lot of time watching game film and corrected their mistakes week by week which Harrison said has made them stronger.

“We’ve matured as a team that I don’t think the adversity bothers us. We almost embrace it and that kind of mentality can take you a long way,” he said.

The Queens’ first game at Nationals will be against the Dawson College Blues who are based out of Quebec. They’ll meet in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. eastern time on Wednesday and if they win they’ll play in the semi-finals on Thursday.

“We’ve been looking forward to this all year we didn’t know we’d be there but here we are,” he said. “We’re playing Dawson they’re a tough team out of Quebec… We just can’t wait to get at it.”



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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