The same opponent bit Okotoks’ two top senior girls high school basketball teams last week, but the results were something to howl about.
The Holy Trinity Academy Knights lost 58-49 in the finals to the host Centennial Coyotes in the Howler Senior girls tournament Saturday in Calgary.
“I am really proud of our team,” said Knights coach Scott Royce. “I have yet to play a team that I have felt outworked us.”
The Coyotes, are the fifth-ranked 4A team in the province — the highest ranked team the Knights have faced this year.
“Before the game we were all a little bit anxious but the girls stepped up from the get-go,” Royce said.
The Knights were able to calm their nerves by playing a dog-eat-dog zone defence. Both teams played hard defence as trying to score baskets was harder than taking a bone away from a hound.
The Coyotes had a slim 26-19 lead at halftime.
However, the Knights were able to tie the game at 38-38 with just seven minutes left.
“We put on a press and the girls were able to score a full court press,” Royce said.
The Knights missed some shots in the final minutes while the Coyotes went on a hot streak to pull out the nine-point victory.
Royce said the Knights kept their composure, emphasized when Annelise Hielema stepped to the line and hit a free throw with a pack of Coyote fans howling ‘Annie, Annie’.
“We told the girls at half-time it might get loud because they were the home-team, I am so impressed that the girls didn’t get rattled,” he said.
HTA opened the tournament by downing the Dr. E.P. Scarlett Lancers 79-33 Friday morning. They advanced to the finals by downing the Chinook Coyotes from Lethbridge 65-50 Friday afternoon.
The Knights are currently 23-2 overall on the season.
If the Knights were no. 2 at the Centennial tourney. The Foothills Falcons were 2A. They won the consolation title by downing Scarlett 71-33.
Foothills got knocked down to the consolation world when they were beaten 67-54 by the host Coyotes.
“I thought we played one of our sloppiest games of the year against Centennial,” Falcons coach Vince Hunter said. “Credit to them, they pressed us and pushed us and forced us to make some mistakes.
“We had 43 turnovers that game, and that’s just not who we are — we don’t make that many mistakes.”
Hunter said the Falcons might have gone in a bit starry-eyed against the Coyotes in their own den.
“We came out really flat and didn’t get our press going until halfway through the third quarter,” Hunter said. “I think our girls are still learning to appreciate how good they are. I don’t think they realize that they can play with the big schools.”
The Falcons waltzed to victory on the B side of things, downing the Springbank Phoenix 81-34 before lancing Scarlett.
Foothills will have the week off as the girls will cheer on the boys team in the Falcons Classic this weekend.
The Falcons boys are coming off a bronze medal at the Redhawks Classic at Western Canada High. They beat the St. Mary’s Saints 87-80 in the third-place game. Adam Pahl led the way with 24 points, Peter Baker had 17, David Kent-Canalejo had 14 and Tyson Pitcher had 10 for the Falcons.
Foothills opened the tournament with a slim 66-64 win over Dakota. Pahl had 24 points including hitting four threes.
Foothills lost the semifinal game to the host Redhawks 84-65.
Kent-Canalejo turned in a steady performance with 17 points. Pahl contributed a game-high 22 points.
The Falcons open their home tournament Friday when they take on Okotoks’ Holy Trinity Academy Knights Friday at 6:30 p.m.
