Gold for A Hawks and B Dragons at Matthew Halton Jr. Girls Basketball Tournament

(updated)

A Girls Gold - 2014/15 A Hawks

B Girls Gold - 2014/15 B Dragons

Toni Lucas and Chris Davis

Matthew Halton High School hosted the first Matthew Halton A and B Girls Basketball Tournament on Friday January 16 and Saturday, January 17. There were four A teams and four B teams that participated. A teams tend to have students from grades 7 - 9,  B teams tend to consist of grades 7 - 8. Participating A teams were Matthew Halton's Hawks, St. Michael's Dragons, J.T. Foster's Raiders (Nanton) and Crowsnest Consolidated Pandas. The B teams included Matthew Halton' Hawks, St. Michael's Dragons, F.P. Walshe's Flyers (Fort Macleod) and Livingstone School's Sabres.  Gold went to the A Hawks and the B Dragons.  Silver went to the A Dragons and the B Flyers.  The A Raiders and the B Sabres took third place in their draws.

Matthew Halton High School Athletic Director Randy Whitehead said he would like to see this tournament grow, to offer the chance to have teams that don't play each other often get to try their abilities against new opponents. "There were good games for all eight teams. It's always nice when you are the host to see the home team win one, so that was a bonus," said Whitehead. "It is good for their spirits and their confidence. I would like to thank all the teams, the parents that help out, and thanks to the Senior Girls basketball. They did all the reffing and scorekeeping for me this weekend, and that was a big help."

A Girls Pool

Matthew Halton Hawks

St. Michael's Dragons

Crowsnest Pass Pandas

J.T. Foster Raiders

B Girls Pool 

Matthew Halton Hawks

St. Michael's Dragons

F.P. Walshe Flyers

Livingstone Sabres

Game 1 B Girls

Hawks 35 - Dragons 25

POG*: Anna Bruder (Hawks) and Danika Warkentin (Dragons)

B Hawks vs Dragons

Game 2 A Girls

Hawks 34 - Dragons 14

POG: Dakoda Bruder (Hawks) and Sydney Bruder (Dragons)

A Hawks vs Dragons

Game 3   B Girls

Flyers 28 - Sabres 24

POG: Mercedes Smith (Flyers) and Nicole Keeler (Sabres)

Game 4   A Girls

Raiders defeat Pandas

POG: Avery Sheldon (Raiders) and Ashley Vigna (Pandas)

Game 5   B Girls

Dragons 35 - Sabres 29

POG: Grace Zoratti (Dragons) and Addy Halibert (Sabres)

B Dragons vs Sabres

Game 6   A Girls

Hawks defeat Pandas

POG: Madilyn Whitehead (Hawks) and Megan MacDonald (Pandas)

Game 7   B Girls

Flyers 31 - Hawks 14

POG: Sheridan Orr (Flyers) and Taylor Fiest (Hawks)

B Flyers vs Hawks

Game 8   A Girls

Dragons defeat Pandas

POG: Eileen Wolftail (Dragons) and Haylie Williams (Pandas)

A Dragons vs Pandas

Game 9   B Girls

Dragons 37 - Flyers 27

POG: Mya Citrigno (Dragons) and Tess Luthor (Flyers)

B Dragons vs Flyers

Game 10   A Girls

Hawks defeat Raiders

POG: Beyonce Crowshoe (Hawks) and MJ Gauriel (Raiders)

A Hawks vs Raiders

Game 11   B Girls

Sabres 43 - Hawks 24

POG: Kataya McClung (Sabres) and Teshayla Cold Weather (Hawks)

B Sabres vs Hawks

Game 12   A Girls

Dragons defeat Raiders

POG: Bree Yellowhorn (Dragons) and Reata Schlosser (Raiders)

A Dragons vs Raiders

Game 13   B Girls Championship

Dragons defeat Flyers

POG: Denby Ettenhofer (Dragons) and Sydney Wolff (Flyers)

B Girls Gold - St. Michael's Dragons

B Girls Silver - F.P. Walshe Flyers

The B Girls Championship game was between the St. Michael's Dragons and the FP Walshe Flyers.  These two teams had faced each other earlier in the day with the Dragons coming out ahead.  The Dragons got the upper hand in the game early on and commanded the lead from the first quarter throughout the game winning by a sizeable margin.  The Flyers pushed and did not give up showing good spirits throughout the game.  For the Flyers the high scorer of the game went to Mercedes Smith with 6 points, and player of the game went to Sydney Wolff.  The Dragons had Grace Zoratti as high scorer with 12 points and player of the game went to Denby Ettenhoffer.

B Dragons vs Flyers - Championship game

Game 14   A Girls Championship

Hawks 26 - Dragons 19

POG: Grace Kirkness (Hawks) and Natalie Krizan (Dragons)

A Girls Gold - Matthew Halton Hawks

A Girls Silver - St. Michael's Dragons

The A championship was a good game to finish off the tournament. It came down to two Pincher Creek teams, the Hawks against the Dragons in a classic hometown rivalry. These two teams have faced each other already this season and each has come out on top, so it was anybody's guess as to the outcome of this game. It was a tight game for the first quarter with the Dragons having a tight lead of 8-6. Halton gained ground in the second and pushed hard throughout to win the game 36 - 19. High scores were Eryka Bruder for the Hawks with 9 points and Dragons Olivia Citrigno with 10 points. Players of the game were Grace Kirkness for the Hawks and Natalie Krizan for the Dragons.

"I think they played extremely well," said Coach Wayne Hollander of the A Hawks.  Some of the skills that the coaches have been stressing to the players have been boxing out, man to man full court press,  and fronting.  "It's been a blessing.  These kids have taken to it just like popcorn."

"They played hard, they crashed the boards, and they listened to everything we had to say," said A Hawks Coach Mattie Wright.  "I can't ask anything better from a team."

B Hawks vs Dragons - Championship game

~

A Hawks - First place

A Dragons - Second place

B Dragons - First place

B Flyers - Second place

A Raiders - Third place

B Sabres - Third place

B Hawks take a break

*POG = Player of the Game
Also note: we don't report final scores where there is more than a 20 point difference.