The Morinville Sabretooths U15 Girls Ringuette team took home the gold medal in the Alberta Basketball Youth Provincials this weekend!

 

The 11 athletes went undefeated this season and finished with a record of 22-0-1, which includes 3 exhibition games against other league and club teams. The team is made up of athletes in grade 8 and 9 from 7 different schools across Sturgeon County.

 

 

 

In game one of Provincials, the girls faced a rough Yellowknife team that made them work for their shots. The girls held onto an early lead to finish the first quarter up 12-7. After 3 quarters, the Sabretooths still held a small lead and some excellent defense in the 4th had the game finish in a 52-39 win for Morinville. Kim Rosendahl lead the team in scoring with 19 and Maya Van Koughnett and Robyn Christensen helped with 11 each. 

 

Game two was the hardest game of the tournament, facing off against league rival, the Leduc Lightening. The team was back and forth the entire way with Morinville's biggest lead being by only 4 points. Morinville found themselves down by 1 point with less than a minute remaining when an excellent defensive play by Julia Pleasants and a solid screen by Robyn Christensen allowed Kim Rosendahl to finish an open layup. With 30s left and up one, the Sabretooths wasted the clock and then some strong defense stopped Leduc for a nail biting victory, 51-50 to send the Sabres to the final game. Kim Rosendahl lead the team in scoring with 15 while Robyn Christensen contributed 12. 

 

The championship game found the girls against Southwest (Edmonton), a team they've played twice before. An incredibly strong start and solid 3-point shooting by Maya Van Koughnett and Julia Pleasants had Southwest spinning and down 29-13 at half. In the final half of the game, Southwest stormed back with some great offensive plays and Morinville's lead was cut shorter. The game ended 42-35 in favour of Morinville for the gold medal. Julia Pleasants lead the team in scoring with 17 points, including four 3-point shots. 

 

Jace-Lyn Seibel - Lilian Shick School

Kim Rosendahl - Morinville Community High School

Abby Biddiscombe - Camilla School

Robyn Christensen - Gibbons School

Hailey Steele - Morinville Community High School

Maya Van Koughnett - Namao School

Katelyn Rosendahl - Morinville Community High School

Lauren Nikiforuk - Namao School

Julia Pleasants - Camilla School

Eden Foss - G. H. Primeau School

Sarah Luger - Redwater School