Auroras show determination in weekend wins

By Cal Braid
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The St. Mary’s Auroras won bronze at the ASAA South Zone basketball competition at Lethbridge College over the weekend. 

The action began against Lundbreck’s Livingston High School. Assistant coach Carolyn Siemens said,  “They were a new opponent for us and they came out strong. They had one really dominant player who led scoring for them.” A slow start put the Auroras on the wrong side of a 4-21 game after the first quarter. “We knew we were in tough and had to work hard to get back in the game,” she said. “We had a stronger second quarter and ended the half still down 17-30. We changed our defensive strategy to key on their player and worked really hard to pull off a comeback and a 47-42 win to secure a spot in the semi-finals.”

St. Mary’s outscored Livingston 30-12 in the second half and McKenzie Siemens led with 10 points, while Savannah Schmitt and Logan Meier each added nine. Jayda Sierra had an impressive 15 rebounds and Kennedy Planger grabbed another 10.

“The semi final game saw us matched up against Immanuel Christian who is undefeated and ranked number one in the province. We knew it would be a tough game for us,” Siemens continued. “Despite being the underdog, our girls went in and worked hard.” 

Disappointingly, the Auroras lost 22-76. Schmitt led scoring with seven, Meier added five, and Sierra and Nyla DeBoer both grabbed five rebounds. “The stats reflect the strength of the ICHS team, with their height and dominance on the court it is tough to get rebounds and score,” the coach said.

“In the bronze medal game we played Kainai High School. This was an important game for us as a bronze medal finish secured a spot in 2A ASAA Provincials this year. The South Zone has been dominant in 2A girls basketball so with Immanuel Christian hosting the tournament we had three spots in our zone; zone champions, wild card and host. We knew Kainai had a couple shooters and would play a physical game, but our girls came out strong and paced well the entire game. We were able to win 53-39.” Meier had a great game, scoring 28 points with Schmitt adding 10. Siemens grabbed 14 rebounds and Meier had seven.

The Auroras are excited to participate in the upcoming ASAA 2A provincials in Lethbridge at Immanuel Christian High School. The event begins on Wednesday (Mar. 13) with pictures and practice, then on Thursday morning the competition kicks off with a breakfast banquet, opening ceremonies and games, which will continue through Friday and Saturday.