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T-Birds settle for silver at home tourney

Senior girls drop final to province’s top-ranked 1A squad; club to host zones March 11-12
WES - RFS girls IMG_1154 CROP
R.F. Staples School T-Bird Harvalee Tomlinson went strong to the hoop during the club’s 77-22 victory over Devon Feb. 25 to open their home tournament. The senior girls downed Grande Prairie 64-58 in Game 2 of the event Feb. 26, but fell to Parkland Immanuel Christian School in the final, 52-42.

WESTLOCK - R.F. Staples School’s senior girls basketball team came up just shy of gold at their home tournament Feb. 25-26, falling in the final to the province’s top-ranked 1A squad.

The T-Birds fought and clawed but couldn’t overcome a 12-point, first-half deficit to the Parkland Immanuel Christian School Penguins who claimed the tourney title with a 52-42 victory. The T-Birds opened the event Friday afternoon with a 77-22 demolition of Devon, before squeezing past Grande Prairie Composite High School in a “hard fought” 64-58 triumph in the Saturday-afternoon semifinal.

Coach Wade Hicks said the Penguins, who’ve yet to lose to a 3A school this year, are a tough opponent and well deserving of their No. 1 ranking amongst Alberta’s 1A schools — the T-Birds are currently the fourth-ranked 3A girls team in the province and sit in second in the zone behind the Morinville Wolves.

“It was a six, seven-point game for most of the second half. We got close, but they hit a couple of shots at the end and stretched it out to 10. That said it was a really good game,” said Hicks after reviewing game film of the final Sunday morning.

The girls are slated to head to Strathmore this coming weekend for some exhibition action, then return to the friendly confines of RFS to host the zone championships March 11-12, an event that’ll feature seven teams — Morinville, the zone’s top-ranked club, gets a bye into the semifinal. With five Grade 12s on his roster, Hicks has a veteran-laden squad that’s hitting on all cylinders whose focus is squarely on making the provincial championships.

“I really like where my team is at right now. They’re playing hard for a full 40 minutes and our shooting is there,” said Hicks. “Really it’s about maintaining what we have and keeping our mental focus. Everything else is in place and the girls are playing really well. We don’t need to work on a ton.”

George Blais, TownandCountryToday.com

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