Chinook Post-Season Basketball Tournament held on weekend

• Chinook League Awards dinner also held

Chris Davis and Toni Lucas, Pincher Creek Voice

Sr. Girls Dragons vs Halton Hawks
at Chinook Post Season Tourney
C. Davis photo

The Chinook Post-Season Senior Basketball Tournament was held at St. Michael's and Matthew Halton schools last weekend, March 3 and 4.  7 teams participated in the Senior Girls draw, 9 games total.  8 teams participated in the Senior Boys draw, with 11 games total.

Senior Girls Championship Game
The championship game for the Senior Girls featured a match between St. Michael's Dragons and the Livingstone Sabres.  The Sabres entered the tournament with a bye, and defeated Coalhurst by a score of 81-33 on their way to the final game.  The Dragons defeated the Halton Hawks by a score of 75-66 and the Vulcan Hawks by a score of 55-33 to earn their spot.


Onlookers were treated to a very close game. This was a nail biter, with a lot of back and forth action throughout a game between two very close and competitive teams.

Sabres #13 Emma Lowry had a comical moment on the floor when she literally jumped out of her shoe during the first quarter.  She landed after snagging the ball out of the air, obviously planning to run with it, but having only one shoe on made her rethink her strategy.  She wisely chose to pass off the ball, and put her footwear back on securely.  The Sabres Sr. Boys arrived near the end of the first quarter to cheer the girls on, which they did in some style by removing their shirts to reveal "Sabres" in yellow across their collective chests.

The first quarter ended 13-12 for the Sabres.  In the second quarter the Sabres were firing on all cylinders, dominating the play and taking it 18-10.  In the third quarter the Dragons got their game back, taking it 20-14.  Going into the final quarter the Sabres were ahead by the slim margin of 45-42.  Emma Lowry really poured it on for the Sabres, scoring 10 points and ensuring a narrow victory for her team.

Final score: Sr. Girls Sabres 60, Dragons 53

Dragons #10 Amanda Higgenbotham and #5 Elise Wocknitz played a great game, scoring a total of 15 points each during the game.  Sabres #13 Emma Lowry was the top scorer in the game with a whopping 21 points.  

Sabres Coach Paul Erickson said "I knew we were going to be good (going into the season), I knew we were going to be quite good. We've got a bunch of wonderful girls that are just nice kids.  They're a bunch of girls that like each other and they work together really well, and really we're coming along, we're working towards being a team all the time. They pass the ball well.  We're hoping to just keep it rolling and peak at Provincials in a couple of weeks."

The Sabres compete in 1A Zones this week.  "It's as tough a Zones as there is," said assistant Coach Jim Proudfoot.  "We have to stay focused, we're going to play our best game.  Our confidence is getting better, and that confidence means a lot.  We've had some key games, like with Fort Macleod.  They were ranked number one in 2A Girls and we were able to beat those guys.  That was a brutal game. We were down 18 to 2 at quarter time and our girls came back.  By half time they were ahead two points."

Sabres #13 Emma Lowry was named MVP for the League, #11 Jennifer Erickson was one of the All-stars for the League, and the team got the Sportsmanship award.

Post Season Tournament Champs Sr. Girls Livingstone Sabres,  with
their fan club (Sr. Boys Sabres)
T. Lucas photo

Senior Boys Championship Game
The championship Senior Boys game was held between the St. Michael's Dragons and the Nobleford Blades.  The Dragons got there by defeating the Halton Hawks by an embarrassing 73-16 score and the Piikani Redmen by a score of 95-57.   The Blades defeated the Crowsnest Panthers 83-38 and Coalhurst 63-56 to earn their spot. The Blades had a full roster of 15 players for the tournament.

The Blades dominated the first quarter by a score of 27-11, largely due to an extreme effort by Blades #32 Kale Dorchak, who scored 10 points in the quarter. The second quarter belonged to the Dragons, who took it 24 -11.  The Blades got the edge in the third quarter 18-22.

The final quarter was incredibly close, with the Blades ahead by 64-62 with 6 minutes left in the game. At the two minute mark it was 70-65 Blades.  With less than a minute left the score stood at 70-67 for the Blades.  With a mighty last-minute effort (literally) the Dragons pulled ahead for the win, by one point.

Final score: Dragons 72, Blades 71

Dragons #12 Brandon Naumczyk was the top scorer in the game with 19 points.  #14 Westin Fairbrother scored 14 points.  #15 Gabe Rainford scored 11 points.  #9 Josh Hillard and #10 Trevor Fiest scored 8 points each.  For the Blades, #32 Kale Dorchak was the top scorer with 16 points, followed closely by #23 Johnny Siemens with 14 points and #10 Riley Deboer with 13 points.  #6 Tyson Pariseau and #7 Austin Plomp scored 9 points each.

"They played with a ton of heart," said Dragons Assistant Coach Alan Wocknitz after the game.  "Being down that many points in the first quarter and coming back, phenomenal."  The Dragons are off to Zones, starting this evening, and then back in Pincher Creek for Provincials in two weeks.

Post Season Sr. Boys Champions, the St. Michael's Dragons
T. Lucas photo

Provincials will be held at Matthew Halton School, hosted by Livingstone School, from March 15 to March 17.

Grab some popcorn.

Chinook Post-Season Tournament, Various teams:

Chinook Post Season Sr. Girls Final, Dragons vs Sabres:

Chinook Post Season Sr. Boys Final, Dragons vs Blades: 

Chinook League 2011/12 Awards:


Sportmanship
Girls - Livingstone Sabres
Boys - Crowsnest Pass Panthers

Regular Season Champions
Girls - Livingstone Sabres                                            
Boys - St. Michaels Dragons

Girls 2nd Team All-stars                                              
Jennifer Erickson - Livingstone                                      
Elise Wocknitz - St Michaels                                        
Malorie Goasdoue - Matthew Halton                            
Allison Farfus - Crowsnest                                            

Boys 2nd Team All-Stars
Jonathan Entz - Coalhurst
Lane Paidel - Livingstone
Ty Low Horn - Matthew Halton
Johnny Siemens - Nobleford
Bryan Koentges - Crowsnest

Girls 1st Team All-Stars                                              
Naomi Entz - Coalhurst                                                    
Amanda Higginbotham -St. Michaels                                
Catherine DeCock - St Michaels                                      
Sydney Riedel - Matthew Halton                                      
Marissa Burns - County Central                                        

Boys 1st Team All-Stars  
Mackie Weiss-Higbee - Coalhurst
Owen Stump - Piikani
Dyson Surmik - County Central
Garrett Ross - County Central
Tyson Pariseau - Nobleford

Girls MVP                                                                      
Emma Lowry - Livingstone

Boys MVP                                              
Gabe Rainford - St Michaels
Carlos Burgo - Matthew Halton

*Awards information courtesy of chinookbball.blogspot.com