The Alberta Schools Athletic Association (ASAA) 4A senior girls provincial championship has finally arrived.
The host Lindsay Thurber Raiders and the Hunting Hills Lightning will look to make some noise.
The Raiders, who recently claimed the 4A central zone championship over the Lightning, will be the highest-seeded team out of Red Deer, including the two teams on the boy’s side.
As the eighth seed, they’ll face ninth-seeded Spruce Grove on Thursday at 11 a.m. at Thurber High School.
Raiders head coach Kathy Lalor said it should be a tight game because of how closely seeded they are but explained they’ve put in a lot of work to prepare.
They’ve played against Spruce Grove twice this season and came away with a win in the second matchup.
“I feel like it’s a good matchup for us but it’ll be a tough one,” she said.
“We’re a team that’s gradually gotten better all year and I just really appreciate the work ethic they have and all the time they’ve put in to become better individuals and team.”
Lalor explained the team this year has become close and hasn’t hesitated to work hard and push each other in practice. She said that’s made a big difference in how she’s coached them.
“They get along well, work hard at practice, and love spending time together. All of those things help a team gel over the course of the year,” she said.
On the basketball court, they’re as ready as they can be. It will just come down to how they play in that opening game against Spruce Grove.
Getting to play at home is a bonus.
“I think they’re all very excited about playing at home… Our school is super excited to be hosting this. It takes a lot of manpower. There’s been lots of people who’ve put in a lot of time to make this happen,” she said.
The Raiders are fresh off their third straight 4A central zone championship title and have won it in 10 of the last 11 years.
“We’ve had a pretty good run… When we’re successful at the senior level it’s because of what the Grade 9’s and JV coaches do.”
Meanwhile, the 16th-seeded Lightning will have to take on the province’s top-ranked Raymond High School at 11 a.m. at Hunting Hills High School on Thursday.
Head coach Shelby Ross said the team is looking forward to it but are also nervous ahead of the tournament.
“It’s fun to be able to make it there and provincials don’t happen all the time so they’re excited,” Ross said.
“Raymond is an unreal team but I always tell them that the better the team you play against the better you usually perform. We’re hoping we come out and play as hard as we can.”
Ross explained they learned a lot from losing in the zone championship to the Raiders. She explained they didn’t perform as well as they normally do after a great performance in the semi-finals.
“We talked about how detrimental that is to their performance and that on Thursday they’ll play in front of their home crowd and how that’s a bid deal,” she said.
“We’re hoping that they can perform.”