Rebels girls rattle off five wins

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Taber Times

By Greg Price
Taber Times
gprice@tabertimes.com

It was utter dominance for the W.R. Myers Rebels varsity girls basketball team in its tournament run at Kate Andrews School in Coaldale as the voyage to the title had no victory under 20 points.

The tournament run culminated in a 71-36 win over the host Kate Andrews Pride in the championship final.

“Playing the home team in their tournament is always a challenge. We wanted to have a great start and we were able to put up 25 points and hold Kate Andrews to six points to start the game. Everyone scored,” said Kenney Wood, head coach of the W.R. Myers Rebels varsity girls basketball team.

“Everyone had a great tournament and as a team, we were able to work on some offensive sets and defensively played extremely well.”

Rachel Jensen scored 15 points to go with eight rebounds. Hayley Lepard was leading scorer with 18 points and Natalie Hoyt and Genna Wright both had 10 points apiece. Keegan Brantner was leading rebounder with 14 boards and Tiffani Olsen had nine rebounds.

The Rebels made the championship round by dispatching Immanuel Christian 64-44, racing out to a 34-13 half-time lead without ever looking back.

“We came out very strong defensively and offensively, and by the end of the first half, had the game in total control. Again we had scoring from everyone and we also got 61 rebounds,” said Wood.
“With that many rebounds, it was very difficult for Immanuel Christian to get any second shots.”

Lepard had the hot hand from beyond the arc, going for 7-for-14 from the three-point line on the way to a line of 27 points and nine rebounds.

Wright chipped in eight points to go with 18 rebounds. Wood had nine points and nine rebounds.

The Rebels had little resistance in its opening game of the tournament with a 75-19 blowout of Crescent Heights.

Three players notched double-digit scoring in Hoyt (16), Lepard (15), and Jenna Nelson (10).

The success of the Rebels was in Southern Alberta High School Girls Basketball League competition as well as the squad moved to 3-0 in league play with wins over the Magrath Pandas and the Chinook Coyotes on the road.

Last Tuesday’s match against the Pandas including a 74-35 drubbing.

Lepard had the double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Hoyt was leading Rebels scorer with 19 points. Wood had 13 points to go with five steals.

“We came out quite slow in the first quarter and we changed a few things up going into the second quarter and never looked back,” said Wood.

“We ran a few new things offensively and it was nice to see things work the way we had practised them. We also had Paige Wood back in the line up finally. She had been out the past eight weeks with a broken hand and she made quite a difference on both defence and offence.”

The Rebels’ tilt last Wednesday resulted in a 71-62 victory over the Chinook Coyotes.

Lepard (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Wood (10 points, 12 rebounds) both had double-doubles. Hoyt notched 13 points and Wright had 12 rebounds.

“It was a very hard-fought road win. Chinook is a tough gym to play in, it’s very large and shooting is tough, and to play back-to-back away games is always difficult. Chinook has a great player that scored from everywhere in the first half, but the second half we shut her out. We played some great team defence,” said Wood. “We are getting better each game, learning from our mistakes and getting smarter. This was our sixth game in eight days. We had a few girls not feeling well and girls, but are still finding the energy to play some great basketball. Marty, Brandon and I are very proud of them.”

The Rebels continue their league schedule on the road in the New Year with a Jan. 5 game against Kate Andrews and a Jan. 15 game against Cardston.