Senior teams at Innisfail High School and St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School have wrapped up rewarding basketball seasons.
At Innisfail High School, the senior girls basketball team participated in their zone championship tournament in Sedgewick on March 11 and 12. The senior boys team, although they had a great season, did not qualify for their zone championship this year.
“They worked hard and played in the tougher league for the year,” said Jeff Anderson, athletic director. “The boys lost their challenge game by only six points while the girls qualified for their zone tournament.”
The girls lost their first game of the tournament against Pigeon Lake on March 11, placing them in the consolation category, noted Anderson. They won their next two games, including one on the morning of March 12 by a score of 87-51. The senior girls team then moved on to the consolation final against Sedgewick. They won again by a score of 67-55.
They finished fifth overall in the Central Alberta High School Athletic Association, while the senior boys team finished ninth overall in league standings this season.
St. Marguerite Bourgeoys School senior boys and girls teams also had successful seasons, wrapping up in the Central West Alberta Junior High Athletic Association (CWAJHAA) zone championship tournament on March 11 and 12 in Lacombe and Red Deer.
“The girls finished in sixth place in their zone tournament in Lacombe,” said John Groenen, co-coach of the St. Marguerite senior boys basketball team. “They improved a lot. They were a very young team and really hard working.”
The boys basketball team finished a little higher in standings and came home with a bronze medal.
“The fact that they got a medal was a really good result for us,” said Groenen. “Of our 11 players, we had seven players that had never played before.
“They improved a ton from the beginning of the year but they always showed a lot of heart and a lot of hustle,” he added, noting that their third- place finish did not come easily.
“We ended up winning the bronze medal in an overtime game against a team that had beaten us by 20 points the previous day,” he said.
The third-place finish was a great way to wrap up the season, said Groenen.
“They weren't just really good athletes, they're really good kids. They were very good sportsmen all year long,” he said. “They worked hard, but it was never at another team's expense. They had really good sportsmanship with extremely good character.”
Jeff Anderson
"They worked hard and played in the tougher league for the year. The boys lost their challenge game by only six points while the girls qualified for their zone tournament."
