Spartans conquer zones

Times Reporter  

 

Coach Dion Galandy and the Strathmore High School (SHS) Spartans girls basketball team were seeded first headed into zones from March 12-14; they proved their ranking to be accurate, winning gold against Bert Church High School by a score of 69-45.

“We probably played one of our best games all year, in that final,” Galandy said. “I was confident that we could win. As soon as we play our game to our potential, I think we can compete with anybody in the province.”

Bert Church was seeded third in the tournament. They were down 44-20 at the half.

“It was close in the first quarter. We kind of traded leads a little bit,” Galandy said. “Then our girls came to play.”

The three Spartan captains led the squad in the gold medal game – Erin Warrack (25 points, 14 rebounds, four steals), Carter Jones (19 points, six steals, four assists), and Karly Larson (10 points, 12 assists, six steals).

SHS played their first zones game at home on March 12, defeating Olds 56-34.

“We beat them pretty good. We didn’t play really well, but I think maybe the girls were a little bit nervous,” Galandy said.

The next day, SHS traveled to Olds to face Chestermere in the semifinal, who were seeded fifth.

“We still didn’t play a great game,” Galandy said. “But wins are wins.”

The Spartans won 50-39 to earn a spot in the final.

For the three games in the zones tournament, starter Jessica Murphy returned to play, and though Galandy was thankful to see her on the court, it was a process to get used to having her back.

“For those first two games, it was not as convincing wins as I would have liked,” he said. “To play when you don’t have all of your regulars, and then they come back, it’s difficult to adjust at times. I think games one and two were our adjustment.”

Galandy has eight healthy girls on the roster right now, with one girl out for the season, and another out with a concussion. The latter may play in Provincials, beginning on March 20. Holy Rosary High School in Lloydminster will be hosting the tournament, where SHS is seeded sixth or seventh out of 12 teams.

“Peaking at this time is always what a coach wants. You try to plan for it, but it sometimes happens and sometimes it doesn’t,” Galandy said. “Our goal is to medal. It’ll be a tough road if that happens, but I think we’re ready for that challenge.”

Watch the live stream of the tournament online to follow along with the Spartans: http://provincials.asaa.ca/page.cfm?s=219.