Rattlers take rematch, Queens split weekend series as young student-athletes show promise

Brent Forster - Red Deer Polytechnic Athletics

Red Deer, AB – It was a tale of two halves Sunday afternoon at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre. 

The Medicine Hat College Rattlers and Red Deer Polytechnic Queens each held the advantage in one of the two halves, but in the end the Rattlers solidifed a 65-45 road win. 

The Rattlers had their offence clicking over the first 20 minutes. The visitors outscored the Queens 44-14 by the break. Jasmine Gardiner led the Medicine Hat College Rattlers with 11 points.

Red Deer's Keanna Richards had six points at the half for the Polytechnic.

The RDP Queens tried to chip away at the deficit in the latter half. The home team outscored the Rattlers 31-21, but couldn't fully close the gap. The Medicine Hat College Rattlers picked up the road win.

"I thought everyone contributed today which was nice. I was really pleased to see that we were able to win the third and fourth quarters. That was something that I challenged the team with at halftime, was to erase the first half and go out and win the second half against a very good Medicine Hat team," said Mandy Botham, Red Deer Polytechnic Queens Basketball Head Coach. 

"The fact that we were able to do that, especially playing everyone on the team today and have them contribute important minutes, it was a little bit of a moral victory for us in the second half."

All 10 Queens received playing time and made contributions.

Keanna Richards was named the North Star Sports Queens Player of the Game. The Bachelor of Science student finished with six points, five rebounds, four assists and one steal.

"I thought Keanna played a really solid, consistent game. For someone who played 31 minutes, you'd never know it by her intensity on the floor," said Botham. "Defensively, and she did a good job of setting up the offence, especially under intense pressure, often double teams. I loved everything she brought today."

Amy Szymanek led the Queens with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Derian Geddes hit a pair of three-pointers. 

Katelyn Rozdeba received the top player recognition for the Rattlers, accumulating 20 points, 14 rebounds, three steals, and two assists over 30 minutes on the floor. Jasmine Gardiner added 16 points.

"I thought the bench, including our first-years, came in and did a phenomenal job. It was nice to see them contribute and play some important minutes for us. It's always good to see first-year players like Jordan Harris and Emily Anderson get in," stated Botham.

"First-year players can be a little bit nervous when they first get into the game, but I thought they both settled really quickly and gave us some important stats. To hit the scoresheet with points and rebounds, that's something that we were struggling to do in the first half and I thought in the second half we played a lot better basketball."

Prince George's Jordan Harris contributed a pair of points, two rebounds and one steal. Winnipeg's Emily Anderson was very efficient in her eight minutes on the floor. The five-foot-10 first-year guard/forward had four points, two rebounds, and one assist.

"Sadie Jeffries and Janai Hubert played really good minutes as well. Janai was really good defensively against their number 22 [Rozbeda] who is really tough to shut down. She got some really good rebounds for us and looked more composed and confident out there," said Botham. "Sadie played some really good minutes for us at the one and the two spot, as well. She got some rebounds, considering she is the shortest one out there. She's always a tough rebounder and had some really good looks at the hoop."

Five-foot-six Sadie Jeffries accumulated three rebounds, two points and an assist. Janai Hubert finished with six rebounds, four points, one assist and one steal. 

Medicine Hat College hit 32.9 per cent of its field goals, 15 per cent from beyond the arc and 66.7 per cent from the free-throw line. Red Deer Polytechnic was successful on 29 per cent of its shots from the field, 33.3 per cent from three-point range and 41.7 per cent from the free-throw line.

The Rattlers have a pair of games remaining before the holiday break. On Friday, December 3, they will host the St. Mary's University Lightning in Medicine Hat at 8 pm. Then they will face the Lightning in Calgary to wrap up their regular season games in the Fall Term.

On Friday, January 14, the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens (3-3) will tip-off against the Lightning (4-0) at 8 pm.