Kainai Lady Warriors top Sr. Girls team at 2015 Hawks Basketball Classic

First place - Kainai Lady Warriors

Second place - Pincher Creek's Dragons

Third place - Hanna Hawks

Consolation - Erle Rivers Novas

Chris Davis/Toni Lucas (story/photos/videos)
Randy Whitehead and crew (stats)
Kim Jorgenson and Renee Michaud (photos)

Matthew Halton High School's Hawks hosted their 6th annual Hawks Classic Basketball Tournament last weekend on February 20 and 21.  8 Senior Boys teams and 8 Senior Girls teams participated.  Organizer Randy Whitehead and a large crew of volunteers and referees once again presented a seamless event.

We're dividing our coverage into two stories, one for each draw (Boys and Girls) because of the amount of material involved.  Click here for our coverage of the Boys games.

Participating Girls Teams

Dragons (Pincher Creek)

Couguars (Calgary)

Pandas (Crowsnest Pass)

Titans (Coaldale)

Lady Warriors (Kainai)

Novas (Milk River)

Hawks (Hanna)

Auroras (Taber)

Tournament Girls MVP
Jaden Standing Alone (Kainai Lady Warriors)

MVP Jaden Standing Alone

Tournament All-Stars

Tiffany Hansen (Novas) 

Andrea Hulst (Titans)

Ange Irankeje (Couguars)

Anna Koevoet (Pandas)

Kallee Bonette (Auroras) 

Jordyn Kiemele (Hawks)

Rebecca Lowry (Dragons) 

Samantha Cyr (Dragons) 

Iinakay Russell (Lady Warriors)

Girls and Boys Ecole de la Rose Sauvage Couguars

Game 1 Pandas vs Hanna Hawks

Crowsnest Pass Pandas

Hanna's J.C. Charyk Hawks defeated the Crowsnest Pass Pandas by a wide margin in the opening game of the tournament. Top Pandas scorers were Katie Mclung with 8 points and Anna Koevoet with 6 points. Sam Williams was Pandas Player of the Game. Top scorers for the Hawks were Halee Dietrich with 20 points and Janay Durand with 18 points. Maddie LaClaire was Hawks Player of the Game.

Game 3 Novas vs Lady Warriors

This was the first close game of the tournament, as Kanai's Lady Warriors contended with the Erle Rivers Novas. The Lady Warriors won it 77-71 after four very close quarters. Top scorers for the Novas were Robin Stelten with 17 points and Megan Hacke with 10 points. Robin Stelten was also Player of the Game for the Novas. Top scorers for the Lady Warriors were Jaden Standing Alone with 18 points, Iinakay Russell with 17 points (including two 3-pointers), Maggie Russel with 14 points, and Mackenzie-Scott Yellowhorn with 12 points. Russel and Yellowhorn got a 3-pointer each. Jaden Standing Alone was Player of the Game for the Lady Warriors.

Game 7 Titans vs Auroras

A strong second quarter gave St. Mary's Taber Auroras the edge they needed to defeat Coaldale's Christian Titans 45-42 in this very close competition. The Titans outscored the Auroras in the second half, but not by enough to change the ultimate outcome. A great game. Top scorers for the Auroras were Kallee Bonette with 18 points, followed by Jessie Braun and Mirthe Kleinjan with 8 points each. Eline Kleinjan was the
Player of the Game for the Auroras. Top Titans scorers were Andrea Hulst with 17 points and Leah Tams with 10 points. Tams was also named Player of the Game for the Titans.

Game 5 Dragons vs Couguars

The Dragons had a quick lead and kept it through out the entire game, resulting in a wide margin win. This is a blended team composed of players from Matthew Halton and St. Michael's schools that we here at the Voice like to call the DragonHawks. Their spirit of cooperation was evident throughout the tournament. Ecole de la Rose Sauvage's Cougaurs had great support within the team and from their boys team, and the coach gave some pointers to the girls at halftime. Khadija Sow of the Couguars demonstrated excellent sportsmanship repeatedly throughout the tournament.

Anitha Kibondo was top Couguars scorer with 5 points (including a 3-pointer) and Alison Berthlot was their Player of the Game. Rebecca Lowry was the top scorer for the Dragons with 25 points, followed by Samantha Cyr with 12 points. Cyr was also Dragons Player of the Game.  There were some sweet 3-pointers from Dragons Kate Nicas, Emily Milligan (2), and Megan McGlynn.

Game 9 Pandas vs Novas

The Novas defeated the Pandas by a very wide margin in this game. Sam Williams was top scorer for the Pandas and Savannah Moore was their Player of the Game. Top scorers for the Novas were Robin Stelten with 18 points and Lexi Hughson and Tiffany Hansen with 14 points each. Megan Hacke was Player of the Game for the Novas.

Game 11 Titans vs Couguars

Girls Couguars (with some boys mixed in)
Renee Michaud photo

The Titans defeated the Couguars by a wide margin. Top Titans scorers were Jessalyn Bultena with 24 points and Andrea Hulst with 16 points. Bultena was Titans Player of the Game. Top Couguars scorers were Natalie Herkendaal with 8 points and Alison Berthlot and Ange Irankeje with 4 points each. Herkendaal was also the Couguars' Player of the Game.

Game 13 Lady Warriors vs Hanna Hawks

This was a very close game, with the Lady Warriors maintaining a slight lead over the Hawks to win it 60-57, qualifying them for the Final game. Top scorers for the Hawks were Janay Durand with 25 points and Amy Marion with 10 points. Durand was also Player of the Game for the Hawks. Jaden Standing Alone was top scorer for the Lady Warriors with 19 points, followed by Joellen Davis and Iinakay Russell with 13 points each. Davis was named Player of the Game for the Lady Warriors.

Game 14 Dragons vs Auroras

The Dragons continued their strong tournament showing in this game, defeating the Auroras by a wide margin, setting the stage for a Dragons vs Kainai Final. Top scorers for the Auroras were Kallee Bonette with 10 points and Megan Mankow with 8 points. Mankow was also Player of the Game for the Auroras. Rebecca Lowry was top scorer for the Dragons with 24 points, followed by Samantha Cyr with 9 points. Emily Milligan was Player of the Game for the Dragons. Dragons 3-pointers came from Milligan, Cyr, and Megan McGlynn.

Game 17  Consolation 
Titans vs Novas

The Erle Rivers Novas won the Girls Consolation by a wide margin. Top scorers for the Titans were Leah Tams with 9 points and Andrea Hulst with 8 points. Jody Boeve was Player of the Game for the Titans. Top scorers for the Novas were Robin Stelten with 19 points and Tiffany Hansen with 15 points. Lexi Hughson was the Novas' Player of the Game.  Andrea Hulst (Titans) and Tiffany Hansen (Novas) were chosen as tournament All-Stars.

Game 18 Couguars vs Pandas

The Couguars defeated the Pandas by a wide margin in this game.  Top scorers for the Pandas were Aislinn Maguire with 14 points and Katie McClung with 6 points.  Aislinn Maguire was Player of the Game for the Pandas.  Top scorers for the Couguars were Natalie Herkendaal with 20 and Ange Irankeje with 10 points. Anitha Kibondo was Player of the Game for the Couguars.  Ange Irankeje (Couguars) and Anna Koevoet (Pandas) were named as tournament All-Stars.

Game 22 for Third place

Auroras vs Hanna Hawks

Hanna's Hawks earned Third place after defeating Taber's Auroras 52-43 in this high energy game. Top scorers for the Hawks were Janay Durand with 15 points and Jordyn Kiemele with 13 points. Kiemele was also Player of the Game for the Hawks. Top scorers for the Auroras were Megan Mankow with 20 points and Mirtha Kleinjan with 9 points. Kleinjan was also Player of the Game for the Auroras. Kallee Bonette (Auroras) and Jordyn Kiemele (Hawks) were named as tournament All-Stars.

Game 23 for First and Second
Dragons vs Lady Warriors

The Matthew Halton gym was packed with supporters of both teams contending for tournament Gold. The Dragons came out flat-footed in the first quarter, and the determined Kainai Lady Warriors made the most of it, ahead 22-10 going into the second. The Dragons got their groove back, and what at first looked to be a rout instead turned into an evenly matched battle. The Lady Warriors outscored the Dragons in the second quarter, but only by 3 points, 16-13, to be ahead 38-23 at the half. The third quarter saw the two teams tied 9-9 for points scored, and the Dragons outscored the Lady Warriors by 1, 15-14 in the final quarter.

Final score: 61-47 for the Lady Warriors, to earn First place in the tournament.

Top scorers for the Lady Warriors were Jaden Standing Alone with 26 points and Mackenzie Scott-Yellowhorn with 8 points. Maggie Russell was named Lady Warriors Player of the Game. Dragons Rebecca Lowry and Samantha Cyr were the top scorers for the Dragons with 14 poits each. Megan McGlynn was named Player of the Game for the Dragons.

Rebecca Lowry (Dragons), Samantha Cyr (Dragons) and Iinakay Russell (Lady Warriors) were named as tournament All-Stars.

Jaden Standing Alone of the Kainai Lady Warriors was name tournament Most Valuable Player.

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