Queens 66 Broncos 53
The odds are against the RDC Queens to make the Alberta Colleges Women’s Basketball League playoffs, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to go down without a fight.
Coming off a disappointing 78-71 loss to the Olds Broncos Thursday, the Queens turned in a gritty effort to down the Broncos 66-53 at RDC Saturday.
The Queens, 8-11, are tied for fourth with the Medicine Hat Rattlers, who have two games in hand. The Queens play Ambrose Friday in Calgary and Saturday at RDC while MHC faces SAIT and Ambrose. If they tie the Rattlers have the edge, having won two of three games.
“We just have to keep winning and playing hard,” said Queens head coach Ken King. “That’s all we can do. Take care of business and keep ourselves in position so we have a chance.”
One of the impressive performances Saturday was the play of guard Eva Bonde, who was asked to shadow Olds star Brianna Scott, who had 50 points on Thursday. Bonde, with a little help from her friends, held Scott to 10 points.
“Eva is one of the best shutdown guards in the league,” said King. “She does it in man, not zone. We don’t protect her, she goes one-on-one against some of the best guards in the league and she stops them.”
Bonde, who had seven points and four rebounds, could well have been the player of the game for her defensive performance, but Dedra Janvier continued her outstanding play. She finished with 23 points, hitting seven of 13 shots from the three-point line, giving her a league-leading career total of 198.
“Dedra is really playing well,” said King. “She’s in a flow and I’m proud of her the way she’s performing.”
The Queens are also playing shorthanded up front with Kayla Guillet (knee) and Kirsten Loney (illness) out. As a result five-foot-nine guard Madi Nimmo of Hunting Hills is playing inside.
“She had an awesome game,” said King. “She played 13 minutes and I know she was tired, but didn’t show it, She’s a strong girl and works hard on the court, in the weight room and in the class room and is being rewarded for it.”
Emily White had 12 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, twi steals and two blocks and Brooke Kirkpatrick eight points. Alice Pitts had 20 points for Olds.
Kings 86 Broncos 66
Despite playing shorthanded the Kings. 13-6, put together a strong performance to take an 86-66 victory over the Broncos, 3-14.
The Kings only used eight players as forwards Shayne Stumpf, Shadrak Mpiana, Jabin Binnendyk and Dillan Sutherland and guards Kai Greene and Darryl Broderick were all sidelined.
Broderick could have played, but head coach Clayton Pottinger wanted Cody White to get more playing time. He did that with 21 minutes.
“It was a good effort and if you look at it there’s a silver lining in the injury issue in that some of the other guys, who are going through growing pains, got valuable playing time,” said Pottinger, who used White, Zach Morgan and Kevin Szymanek more than usual.
“They’re young and will make mistakes, but I treat them like veterans as it helps them learn,” said Pottinger.
Overall the Kings played well.
“We still had spots wherer we had a let down in terms of intensity, but what I liked was that when they made a push we responded right away, which was good.”
Forward Anthony Robbswas the player of the game with 19 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. Ian Tevis missed most of the third quarter with foul trouble but had 15 points, five assists and two boards while Matt Matear and Spencer Klassen were impressive. Matear had 15 points and 11 rebounds and Klassen 14 points and eight boards, including six offensive rebounds.
Khurram Sultan had 15 points. Abraham Murray had 17 points and five rebounds for Olds.