Rebels basketball teams both earn bronze medals at 2A zones

Posted on March 15, 2023 by Taber Times

By Garrett Simmons

For the Times

The W.R. Myers Rebels senior boys and girls teams both earned bronze in their respective 2A zone basketball tournaments.

It was a high-scoring loss in the semifinal that knocked the boys out of contention for gold, as Stirling’s offence exploded for 43 points in the fourth quarter to steal a 96-89 win.

The game looked to be well in hand for Myers at the half, as the Rebels scored early and often in the first and second quarters. Myers led 26-16 after one and took a 50-33 lead into halftime.

The third quarter was a stalemate, as both teams put 20 points on the board, which saw Myers maintain a 70-53 lead heading into the final frame.

But Stirling pulled away thanks to a 19-point, fourth-quarter performance from Callan Oviatt, who matched the entire output of Taber’s offence in the frame. Enoch Stone also scored 12 of his 21 points in the fourth.

For Myers, Elias Cooper had a huge 29-point game, while Colby Torrie had 23. Logan Porter finished with 10.

Myers was able to rebound in Saturday night’s bronze-medal game, as the Rebels ran away with a 94-84 victory over Kainai.

The game was very much in doubt at the half, however, as Kainai led 44-40 at the break. Myers put up 19 points in the third and trailed 65-59 heading into the final quarter.

This time, the Rebels flipped the script and poured in the points in the fourth, as Myers scored 35 in the fourth, led by Torrie’s scoring spree, to secure the bronze.

When all was said and done, Torrie led Myers with 36, Cooper had 18 and Porter added 11.

The No. 3 ranked Rebels received a bye into the zone quarterfinals and kicked off the tournament last Thursday with a 75-50 win over No. 6 Immanuel Christian Secondary School.

Cooper led Myers with 19, Benson Leishman had 18, Torrie added 11 and Porter chipped in with 10.

The bronze medal in zones capped off a season where the Rebels also took third in Deep South Basketball League play. Kate Andrews won the zone title over Stirling, as both teams now advance to the 2A provincials.

The Myers senior girls team’s bronze medal came via a 77-62 win on Saturday afternoon over J.T. Foster.

Taber led from start to finish, as Myers used a first half to take a 40-25 lead into the break. J.T. Foster narrowed the Myers lead to 54-42 after three quarters of play but in the end, it wasn’t enough, as the Rebels struck for 23 points in the final frame to put the contest out of reach,

Jenna Bailey and Natalee Porter both had 17 in the win, while Belinda Rios had 13 and Alyssa Erick added 12.

Myers was pushed to the third-place game after a 63-49 loss to Kate Andrews in the semis. The Rebels offence could only muster 11 points in the first and eight in the second, as Kate Andrews led 33-19 at the break and cruised home from there.

Rios and Porter had 13 points each for Myers, while Bailey added 12.

The tournament started off with a bang for No. 2 Myers, as the Rebels crushed No. 7 F.P. Walshe 79-28 in the quarterfinals.

Porter led Myers with 13, while Rios and Sadie Wright had 12 each. Ten different Rebels got on the scoresheet in the lopsided win.

The season is now over for the Rebels, as zone champion Immanuel Christian and silver medalist Kate Andrews advance to the 2A provincial tournament.