St. Mary’s Auroras bring home the shine

By Cal Braid
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The St. Mary’s Auroras basketball team came home glowing after winning the River Ridge League Championship. The team wrapped up league play in February, taking wins against Senator Gershaw and Milk River to secure a first place position heading into league finals. Milk River High School hosted league championships, but St. Mary’s took it to the home team. 

“Our first game was on Wednesday night (Feb. 28) against Milk River,” said assistant coach Carolyn Siemens. “We had not played a game in a while after the family week break but we came out ready to play.” The Auroras won 53-27 and Nyla DeBoer led the scoring with 16 points. Savannah Schmitt added 13 and Logan Meier dropped 11. McKenzie Siemens led the team with seven rebounds, while Meier grabbed another six and Jayda Sierra and Haylie Peters each had five. “It was a good game for us,” she said. “Milk River played a physical game and our girls were able to stay in control and pace the game.”

The team went out in style, winning again by a wide margin. “In the final game on Thursday we played Foremost,” Siemens said. “We came out really strong in the first half taking a 39-14 point lead. In the third quarter we had a slow start and Foremost closed the gap, but our girls stepped up their play and won the championship 65-37. The last time we won the championship was 2010 so it was great to be able to bring the trophy back to St. Mary’s.” Sierra led the scoring with 15 points, while DeBoer added 14 and Meier 10. DeBoer and Sierra were strong on the boards with nine rebounds and Peters grabbed seven.

Six athletes (pictured) were selected as River Ridge All Stars. Logan Meier and St. Mary’s Celtics’ Rex Bell were selected together as Co-MVPs for the league. The Auroras are now preparing for the ASAA zone playoffs at Lethbridge College and are set to play Livingstone today at 6:40 p.m.