Young basketball players are celebrating a season of successes on the court.
At the Chinook's Edge Northern Athletics Association (CENAA) championship March 1-2 the Innisfail Jr./Sr. High School junior girls Cyclones thumped Delburne 46-30 to run away with the gold medal.
“They all gave their full effort all the time,” said Lorraine Dingman, junior high athletic director. “I think they will definitely carry that memory with them for a long time.”
The team, coached by Derek Baird, with assistance from Dave Kolesnik and Janine Baird, had previously nabbed second place at a tournament in Olds. The team beat Rocky Mountain House 45-31 to get fifth spot at the Central West Alberta Junior High Athletics Association championships March 9. The team lost 40-34 versus Olds March 11 in Chinooks Edge Athletics Association finals.
“I think they had a fantastic season,” Dingman said. “During the regular season they won every game.”
The junior girls, made up of Brooke Bilton, Aly Balin, Brea Bryant, Mandy Bunney, Sera Grover, Kelsey Kolesnik, Natasha Lester, Elizabeth Maciborsky, Emily Cook, Kathleen MacPherson, Hailey Petersen, and Alle Wilkie grew as a unit over the course of the season, she said.
“I think they worked really hard and they had some excellent coaches,” she said.
The junior boys struggled to maintain consistent player levels over the season as many teammates tried to balance two sports or more at once.
“There were games where they had six players and they still won,” she said. “It was an incredible feat for them.”
When the rubber hit the road at the CENNA championship the junior boys Cyclones beat out St. Marguerite Bourgeoys School to win the bronze March 2.
Brandon Bovey, Reid Money, Justin Woodruff, Jaycee Ellis, Declan Jensen, Drake Caron, Austin Thompson, Teren Christensen, Joel Ray and Jacob Stauffer were coached by Ed Coles with assistant duties handled by J.T. Thompson.
The boys lost 52-30 to Olds at the CENNA championships March 11.
The senior boys and girls teams upgraded to a more skilled league this season, playing against teams from Camrose, Rocky Mountain House and Stettler – a challenge they faced with purpose.
“All of the schools in the league have populations ranging from 600 to 2,500, while we only have 330, which revealed to our athletes the level of commitment, desire and focus needed by athletes to play consistently at that level,” said Jeff Anderson, athletics director for Innisfail Jr./Sr. High School. “Both teams accepted the challenge every league game to compete to the last second.”
Sydney Daines stood out for her leadership abilities on the court while Nolan Lorenz consistently shone, even playing when injured for a stretch.
Both teams missed playoff opportunities and will shift down into the league they played in previously for next year, so as to be matched against similar sized schools. The senior teams will finish out the season on March 22 as they take on the teachers during a Students Union pep rally in the middle school gym.
