Rachel Harvey’s decision to transfer to the RDP was exactly what the Queens basketball program needed.
It not only gave them an inside presence, but as a fifth-year, she provided leadership to a relatively young team, which included seven first-year players and two in their second season.
Harvey and Jayden Demchuk are the team’s only fifth-year players with Brandi Thibeaux in her third season — two in the ACAC.
“The fact we’re such a young team helped me a lot in my leadership role,” said the six-foot-one native of Brooks, who transferred in from Concordia University of Edmonton.
“At Concordia, I was a leader on the team, but when I came here, I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes,” she added. “But the girls have been great.
“They want to learn, so I’ve been set up in that leadership role, which has been nice.”
Harvey has spent extra time with the Queens other post players in second-year Salome Nuako and rookie Grace Watson out of Hunting Hills.
“I’ve gone in and worked with Grace a lot on her post moves while Salome is working on her perimeter shot, so not as much.
“It’s kind of cool to work with someone younger like Grace. I like passing off my moves. I know she will score on me in practice and do something I taught her, and it’s such a happy moment, but also, I think, damn, she scored on me,” Rachel said with a laugh.
“Rachel has helped Grace a lot, she’s a big impact in improving her game,” said Harrison.
Harvey is only in her fourth season in the ACAC, but fifth overall after playing a season at St. Thomas University in the Virgin Islands.
“My coach with my club team in Medicine Hat knew the coach down there so that’s how I ended up there,” Harvey explained.
But one year was enough as the school and community was still recovering from a hurricane.
“I decided to come home and took a year off, working in Edmonton. There was a girl I knew from high school with Concordia and she asked me to try out and it worked out.”
Harvey stepped right in and was a second-team All-Conference in the North Division her first season and made the first-team All-Conference squad last year. But she wanted a bit more. The fact Avery Harrison is the head coach of the Queens made her decision to transfer an easy one.
“The main reason I came here was coach Avery,” she said. “In Edmonton, we never got beyond the first round of the playoffs, and being coached by coach Avery was a big deal for me. I wanted to win in my last year, and so far, it’s been a lot of fun.”
What wasn’t fun was a knee injury she suffered in the preseason.
“I had some knee issues during the preseason and then I reinjured it early in the season, which limited my minutes,” she explained. “But it’s feeling better. I know in the games, once the adrenaline kicks in, it’s fine.”
“Her knee has slowed her down a bit, but she’s still an impact player … we’re so fortunate to have her,” added Harrison.
Rachel leads the Queens in scoring with 10.8 points per game and is second in rebounds, with seven a game, which she wants to see improve.
“There are some aspects I can pick up … I’m not rebounding as much as I would like, but I’ll find that balance and work my way up.”
She also has only three blocks so far this season in four games. However, she has 99 in her career, fourth best in the ACAC, three behind third, and five back of second. The leader has 130.
As the team’s key player inside, Rachel is also finding she’s being doubled and even triple-teamed at times.
“That’s been hard, but I’ll get around that,” she said.
Despite their youth, the Queens are still 4-1 heading into this weekend at home where they faced The Kings University, 4-2, Friday and NWP Wolves of Grande Prairie Saturday at 1 p.m.
“We’re still finding our groove, but we’ve played well for such a young team,” said Harvey. “One of our strengths is we play a fast-paced game. It’s hard for the other teams to keep up all the time.”
The Queens, who are ranked 12th in the CCAA, have also several strong rookies, led by guards Millie Cracknell of Australia and Jorgia Hicks out of Lindsay Thurber.
“There is a lot of pressure on some of the girls but they’ve really stepped up,” said Harvey. “Things will only get better and we’ll pick it up even more in the second semester.
‘We have to as we’ll be up against the South teams and there’s some tough competition. SAIT is ranked (No. 4 in Canada) so there are some good matchups.”
One of the fun parts of the early season was a 63-60 win over CUE last weekend.
“It was a cool experience,” said Harvey. “In the captain’s meeting, my best friend was their captain and we gave each other a hug and the referees were wondering what we were doing.
“It was weird. I had to make sure I didn’t pass to the wrong team,” she said laughing. “But they also had their game plan on stopping me.”
Danny Rode is a retired Advocate reporter and member of the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame who can be reached at danrode@shaw.ca
