Rebels girls battle tough in tournament in Sherwood Park

By Greg Price
Taber Times
gprice@tabertimes.com

W.R. Myers Rebels varsity girls basketball team earned a third-place finish at a tournament at Bev Facey High School in Sherwood Park over the weekend.

The Rebels finished its tournament run with a tight 63-61 victory over Spruce Grove.

“We were able to jump out to a good lead which ended up being just enough to hold on for the win. After the loss in the semifinal, it’s always tough to play for third when you want to be playing in the championship game,” said Kenney Wood, head coach of the W.R. Myers Rebels varsity girls basketball team. “Brandon. Marty and I are happy with how the girls continued to fight hard to get this game.”

Dani Wright had the double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Abby Wood hit for 11 points and Anika Steed chipped in nine points.

The Rebels were pushed to the third-place game after a 77-63 loss to Salisbury Composite, in which the team was bit by the injury bug.

“This was a very tight game all the way from start to finish. We unfortunately had Kitawna (Sparks) go down in the first half with an ankle sprain,” said Wood. “Everyone had to dig a bit deeper to keep this one close, but we just couldn’t make up the difference. Salisbury would go on to win the tournament by over 30 points.”

In a half of play, Sparks still managed 21 points. Anika Steed netted eight points. Austen Robbins and Emily Hoyt each had seven points apiece.

The Rebels had little trouble with Hunting Hills in its opening match, winning 70-52.

Sparks poured in 28 points to go with 10 rebounds. Robbins chipped in 11 points and Abby Wood added 10.

Last Wednesday, the Rebels battled in Southern Alberta High School Girls Basketball League play and beat Medicine Hat Kwahommies 97-90, as the Rebels trailed by one point at half-time.

Sparks had a monster game with 32 points and 19 rebounds. Alex Haller scored all of her points from beyond the arc, hitting six three-pointers to put 18 points towards the win. Wright poured in 14 points and Sophie Simek added 10 points. Steed had eight points to go with nine rebounds.

“This is the third time playing them in 30 days, so we both knew what to expect and the game played out as expected. Medicine Hat is a very high-pressure team. They have quite a few shooters and some very good guards. We were able to get off to a great start and made them play catch up the whole game,” said Wood. “They put together a number of runs at us which we were able withstand. It was a very exciting game to be involved in. The girls are getting better. We had worked on a few new offensive options in practice that we were able to see work in the game.”

The Rebels battle Cardston Cougars at Central School on Friday. Junior varsity tips off at 6 p.m. with varsity to follow at 7:45 p.m.