Queens bounce back into the win column while the Kings winning streak comes to an end
Red Deer, January 13, 2024 – Guard Sandra Garcia-Bernal broke the all-time Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) steals record with her nine steals in this afternoon's 70-55 win over the Lethbridge College Kodiaks. She also dropped a team-high 20 points in the win.
On the men's side, the Kings saw their nine-game winning streak come to an end with the Kodiaks defeating RDP 101-87 to split the season series between the two schools.
See below for more information regarding each game.
Queens Basketball – Lethbridge College Kodiaks 55 at Queens 70
This competitive rivalry between these two teams continued a day later in their final game against each other this season. The Kodiaks tough full court press was evident again this afternoon as they continued to pressure the Queens into turning over the ball on their side of the court. But with some great shooting from the home team, RDP took a 16-11 lead into the second quarter.
The Queens strong defensive game was evident in the final 10 minutes of the half. After giving up an early three-point jumper and a free throw shot by guard Hannah Helton (Exercise Science), RDP held Lethbridge College off the scoreboard for over six minutes. In this amount of time, the Polytechnic scored 15 points. But the Kodiaks did not stop fighting. They managed to hold the Queens offence dry for two consecutive minutes but the home team still took a 15-point lead into the second half.
Helton picked up where she left off yesterday as she had a team-high 15 points in the first 20 minutes with guard Sandra Garcia-Bernal (Educational Assistant) leading the Queens offence with 11 points.
The Queens managed to extend their lead by 25 points in a highly offensive third quarter that saw forward Jayden Demchuk (Practical Nurse Diploma) hit back-to-back threes on consecutive plays along with a huge steal at the end of the quarter by Garcia-Bernal to put her team up 60-35 with 10 minutes left to play.
But the Kodiaks kept fighting in the fourth quarter with back-to-back three-pointers made dropping the Queens lead down to 14. Minutes later, Lethbridge College's defence steered aside the Polytechnic's offence on back-to-back plays which led to two shot clock violations. But after 40 minutes of play, the Kodiaks came out on top 70-55
Helton was once again named player of the game for the second time in as many days with her 30-point performance while Garcia-Bernal took home the honours for the Queens with her team-high 20 points. But it was her nine steals that stood out this afternoon as she now has 354 steals in 92 games which surpasses the previous all-time ACAC record of 350 set by Shea-Lynn Noyes of the NAIT Ooks back in 2017.
Head Coach Avery Harrison explained the team did what the coaching staff asked them to do this afternoon.
"Last night we were not hungry for the ball and scoring baskets. When we went down, we did not fight back. I thought the team had a lot more fight in them this afternoon. They were hungrier for the ball as we generated 30 turnovers and scored a total of 34 points off those turnovers which is huge."
The Queens will be back in action next week with a couple of games against the Medicine Hat College Rattlers while the Kodiaks host the Briercrest College Clippers. Both games on Friday evening will start at 6 pm.
Kings Basketball – Lethbridge College Kodiaks 101 at Kings 87
It was a high-intensity and high-scoring first quarter right off the tip-off with the Kings an early 24-19 lead into the second quarter. In the first five minutes of the game, it was like a three-point contest with each team exchanging three-pointers one after another.
But the Kodiaks put up their best effort this weekend in the second quarter as they managed to outscore the Kings 17-11 in the first seven minutes of the quarter which led to their first lead of the game. Lethbridge College managed to hold the lead for the remainder of the half and would take a 47-44 lead into the third quarter. Point guard Drayden Walburger (Business Administration Management) led the offensive charge for the Kodiaks with 13 points in the first half while his counterpart MacGregor Manyluk (Bachelor of Business Administration) went three-for-four from range and finished with 13 points as well.
The Kodiaks kept their offence rolling into the second half with the help of their defence staying strong against a very big and skilled Kings team. But with some great shooting and excellent play calls, the visitors found themselves up 80-63 with 10 minutes left to go in the game with Walburger dropping 10 points in the quarter to bring his total to 23 while Manyluk was held scoreless in the quarter.
Despite a late fourth-quarter surge and the Kings outscoring the Kodiaks 24-21 in the final 10 minutes to play, Lethbridge College came out on top with a 101-87 victory.
Head Coach Jedell Foster explained the team started the game well but the second and third quarters cost the team the game as the Kings got outscored 61-39 in those 20 minutes.
"When you allow a team to drop 100-plus points in this conference, it is never going to end well for the team. The Kodiaks played a great game against us this afternoon especially in the two middle quarters when they outscored us. But we will just have to regroup and put this game behind us so we can focus on working hard during practice this week."
The players of the game were awarded to centre Declan Peterson (Business Administration) of the Kodiaks and guard Efe Iyamu (Open Studies) of the Kings. Peterson finished with a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds while Iyamu dropped 19 points in the loss.
The Kodiaks and the Kings will be back in action next weekend with the Kings heading down to Medicine Hat for a two-game set with the Rattlers and the Kodiaks will host the Briercrest College Clippers. Both games on Friday evening will start at 8 pm.