Auroras finish tournament on a high note

By Cal Braid
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The St. Mary’s Auroras girl’s basketball team hosted Vauxhall on Dec. 12, and their season home opener started well but then stalled. 

“We had a good first half of the game, ending the half at 25-24,” said Carolyn Siemens, assistant coach.  “After the half we came out flat in the third quarter and struggled to make shots in the second half, ending the game with a 37-53 loss. McKenzie Siemens led our scoring with 15 points and Savannah Schmitt added eight, Siemens had eight assists and on the boards we saw Nyla DeBoer with 10 rebounds and Kennedy Planger with nine.”

On Dec. 14, the team traveled to Coaldale for the Kate Andrews Christmas Festival three day tournament. 

“Our first game was against Stirling, who is always a strong competitor in basketball,” Siemens said. “Our first quarter we had some struggles with turnovers and shooting which saw us down 6-22 at the end of the quarter. The girls rallied to have three better quarters which saw improvements throughout the game and we ended with a 45-66 loss.” 

Logan Meier led the scoring with 13 points, McKenzie Siemens added nine, and Hailey Peters chipped in eight. On the boards Peters led with eight, Meier and Planger each had seven. Nyla DeBoer earned player of the game.

The next day the Auroras were back in Coaldale playing Brooks Composite High School, a 3A school. 

“They had some height on us and we weren’t able to get to the boards like we would have liked to. Their height also forced us more to the outside for shooting,” Siemens reported.  

Meier led the scoring with 17 points, Siemens added nine and Schmitt and DeBoer added eight. On the boards, DeBoer led with seven and Meier and Schmitt with six rebounds apiece. Hailey Peters earned player of the game.

On Saturday morning, the final day of the festival, the Auroras played F.P. Walshe from Fort Macleod. 

Siemens said, “We were able to take a win off Walshe which was a great end to the tournament for us. The final score was 77-61 and the girls were able to improve on some of our trouble areas over the week and we led the entire game.”  

Meier had an outstanding game, shooting more than half the team’s points with 40. Schmitt added 12 and Peters 11. Siemens had 12 assists and led the boards along with DeBoer, for 10 rebounds each. Player of the game went to Logan Meier and the Festival All Star to McKenzie Siemens.

The Auroras had one final home game on Dec. 19 at 6 p.m. against Milk River before breaking for Christmas.