For the second year in a row the Glendon school senior high girls basketball team have earned a consolation victory at the Alberta Schools Athletic Association 1A Girls Provincial Championships.
“We wanted to be able to repeat our result from the previous year or to top it,” says Daryn Galatiuk, the school’s athletic director. “We achieved our goal. This was a really hard working and cohesive team.”
The girl’s tourney, which took place in Rosemary from March 19 to 21, began with a matchup against the No. 10 ranked team in the province, the Hay Lakes Tigers. No. 7 ranked Glendon easily cruised to a 58-36 victory in their tournament debut.
The second matchup saw the Marquise line up against Acme High, the No. 2 ranked school in Alberta. While Acme did prevail 60-50, the game was much closer than what the margin suggests.
“Up until the final minute it was a really tight one-point game,” says Galatiuk. The loss meant Glendon had to be dropped into the consolation pool.
The Marquise returned to its winning ways in the third game by storming out to a 17-0 lead over Grand Trunk High School to pave the way to a 62-49 win. The win was particularly impressive considering Grand Trunk was the No.3 ranked team coming into the championship.
The game pushed Glendon into the consolation final against the Old Koinonia Christian School. Glendon prevailed in a tight 60-57 game, which Galatiuk says was a classic back-and-forth battle.
“It was an exciting game. We were up by 10 and we were down by 10. We ended up winning by three points with four of our five starters fouled out.”
It was a satisfying victory for the team made up of nine players. Galatiuk says the leadership provided by the four Grade 12 students on the team was instrumental.
“They were the heart of the team. They really displayed a lot of leadership this year. I am really proud of them.”
Those four students are: Jacqueline Janz, Morgan Pshyk, Kayla Hellum and Regen DeBusschere. There will be a potential for five players from this season’s team able to return for the 2015-16 season.
