Lacombe sports round up

By Diana MacLeod

Posted 11 months ago

Basketball

• The Lady Knights were in fine form earlier this month when they defeated Rimbey during the zone finals in Lacombe. The Central Alberta Christian high school (CACHS) team came away with a score of 51-40, moving them into the 2A Provincials this past weekend.

The Lady Knights travelled to Three Hills representing the Central Zone, but fell to Calgary Christian in their first game, 73-55. Redemption came when they overwhelmed Oilfields high school, 73-43. The girls battled La Crete and came away with a win, 51-48 to finish ninth in the competition. Erin Wiersma led the scoring with 36, 33 and 25 points.

•The Lacombe Rams Senior Boys battled Wetaskiwin for their season ender game. The 63-51 loss took the Rams out of the running for Provincials. Despite a hard fought battle the team was missing key player Cole Stewart, who sustained an injury in a previous game against Ponoka. Still, the team had a great season and four members will play in the All Star game at Red Deer College, March 23. Stewart's injury will keep him sidelined from the All Star game, but teammates Kyle Milligan, Tanner Green, Brandt Kolybaba and Shayne Stumpf will be great Ram ambassadors at the competition.

• It is that time of year again for the 1A/2A Boys and Girls Senior Bowl. Teams playing at Red Deer College's main Gym March 22 are comprised of players from Spruceview, Bowden, Eckville, St. Augustine, Riverglen, Bentley, Buck Mountain and Koinionia, Caroline, Delburne

Hockey

• The LA Carpet and Tile Atom B Rockets were successful in Tier 2 semi final action this weekend with a win over Rocky. Next, it is on to finals March 23 at 7:15 p.m. in Lacombe when they take on Stettler Storm Atom A.

• The Lacombe Boston Pizza Bantam A Rockets were victorious during the first league final game Saturday. They outscored Delburne 6-1. The Rockets play for all the marbles in their final game March 24 at 7:15 in the Barnett Arenas. Fans are encouraged to come cheer on the team as they vie for the league title.

• The Lacombe Midget B Sims Insurance Rockets tied the Blackfalds Bulldogs in playoff action March 19 with a score of 7-7.

• The Lacombe Bantam AA OK Tire Rockets played host to Provincials this past weekend as eight teams laced up to battle for ice supremacy. Despite a valiant effort the Tire Rockets fell to their opposition teams in all three games. The final match up for the Provincial Championship was between Zone 7, Strathcona Warriors and Zone 3, St. Albert Steel.

The Warriors went home with the provincial title.

• The Wetaskiwin Midgets, female hockey team comprised of players from Central Alberta, including Jennifer Huo from Lacombe in goal, had an outstanding season with a record of 21-2-1.

"Focus, dedication and discipline is why our team in Wetaskiwin has been successful this season. As the coach I am well pleased with the players and it has been a privilege to be a part of the team," said Coach Clint Graham.

However, they struggled in playoff action for the North Central Minor Hockey League title this past weekend falling to Red Deer 5-4 on Saturday and again on Sunday, 2-1.

Coach Clint Graham said that despite the loss, the team played hard even with most of the players under the weather.

"Our team struggled with almost half the girls battling a flu bug and just not up to par, but they never gave up (and) they battled to the end," he said, adding, "but our total season stats with exhibition, tournament, league and playoffs games were 36 wins, 5 losses, 3 ties. We have had an excellent season and although we lost in the final our team has nothing to hang their head about — they have played great."

Some downtime this week should help the team recuperate in time to play for Provincials, March 24 to 27th in Barrhead.

"As far as I know there has never been a female team from Wetaskiwin represent Zone 4 at the Provincial tournament, so this is history."

• In Senior Triple A playoffs, the Bentley Generals performed another miracle on ice defeating Fort Saskatchewan in play offs this weekend. The Generals swept the series in four games to capture the provincial title. In the next round of action they take on the B.C champions Fort St. John Flyers for the Mackenzie cup and a berth in the Allen cup.

• Bentley is not only celebrating the hometown team's victory but also for being one of the final five Canadian communities competing for the title of Kraft Hockeyville 2011 and a grand prize of $100,000 for the town's arena with the opportunity to host a pre-season NHL game. But, we will have to wait until April 2 when the winner is announced on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada.

Curling

The second last round of play offs in the Kelly McCullough Superleague saw Autotech Collision and Frame defeat Martin Sherrer. It was the Graeme Rice rink over Steve Pederson. The last showdown will see a match up between Autotech Collison and Frame and Graeme Rice.

Rowing

• Earlier this month Lacombe Upper Elementary School was the venue chosen by the Central Alberta Rowing Club to host the annual Alberta Indoor Rowing Championship. The 93 participants, ranging in age from 11 to 63, challenged simulated distances of 1,000 to more than 2,000 metres on indoor rowing machines, also called ergometers.

"Rowing hard on these ergometers for seven to eight minutes challenges your willpower. The required level of aerobic fitness is high and this event provides a good incentive for the rowers to train hard over the winter, ready for when they can get back into their boats." explained coach Andy Nokes.

This year saw a first with the entry of junior competitors age 19 and under with locals Aster Hill placing third in the Junior B race and Yolanda Thompson taking third in the Senior B competition.

A future indoor rowing competition between local schools is being organized.

Soccer

The Lacombe Renegades U-12 Tier 2 team had a busy weekend at Provincials in Red Deer at the Collicutt Centre.

In their first game on March 19 the Renegades faced off against Juventus X, an Edmonton team that is ranked first in the league. They played well but lost 4-0. The game received a fair play rating of 8-8 with the highest measurement that can be achieved is 10.

The next match up the same day was Grande Prairie, where the Renegades suffered a loss of 7-0. The rating was unknown, yet reports indicate it was a fair game.

The Renegades rallied back on March 20 to beat Calgary's top team, Eastside United, 9-2 with a fair play rating of 0-9. The Lacombe U-12 Tier 2 team ended up placing sixth in the province in their debut year.