The Parkland Posse lacrosse team are provincial Bantam ‘A’ champions thanks in part to a quartet of local players.
Westlock’s Cole Perkins, Trace Stewart, Zach Basisty, and Max Benham all suited up for the Parkland squad this past season and helped the team claim provincial glory in Lloydminster July 8-9.
The Posse swept the Calgary Sabrecats 2-0 in their best-of-three series for provincial bragging rights.
“It was pretty tough. It was a good playoff series,” Basisty said.
Parkland took Game 1 7-3 and then Game 2 8-5 to claim the title.
“That was the best team they played all year,” said Perkins’ dad Stacey.
“The two fastest games and the two best games these kids played all year.”
After winning their league championship in the Greater Edmonton Lacrosse Council (GELC) league, the team qualified for provincials against the southern champs from Calgary.
While the scores might suggest they had an easy time, the boys said it was a hard-fought series.
The team was tested after blowing a 4-0 lead in Game 2, but didn’t sit back and let Calgary force a Game 3.
“We just chose to keep going. It didn’t bother us,” Basisty said.
Stewart, the team’s goalie, said it was a long road, but in the end it was a gratifying feeling to be the best of the best.
“It’s a pretty amazing feeling that we are the best team in Alberta, and there are so many teams in Alberta that we played against,” he said.
“It’s just an amazing feeling that we’re the top one.”
Basisty’s dad Dan said the title was a fitting end to the season for the dedicated and skilled bunch.
“This team never quit this year. They ran and worked hard and they worked well as a team,” Dan said.
“At least from the stands, there was never any indication of panic and never any indication of giving up.”
It was a highly successful season for the boys who were all in their first season with Parkland.
They helped turn around a Parkland squad that hadn’t won a single game all of last year.
“People were already talking about provincials at the beginning of the year so it was already kind of a mindset that we were going to have a good year,” Trace said.
