Spartans come up short in Zone final
By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter
Tyler Lowey Photo
The 3A South Central Zone senior girls basketball title changed hands March 10 when the Brooks Composite High School Buffalos knocked off the host Strathmore High School (SHS) Spartans at the SHS gym.
Originally, the final was slated for the evening of March 9, when a larger student body would have been present, but a wind storm swept in and made the highway between Brooks and Strathmore unsafe.
When the ball finally tipped, the Buffalos showed why they have been a dominating force all season. They didn’t blitz the Spartans, but used a steady offence and stifling defence to constrict the Spartans for four quarters until the horn sounded on their 60-46 victory.
“Brooks did this afternoon what they did all weekend; they only went on one little run, but won each quarter by four or five, and by the time you look up in the fourth quarter, they are leading by 20,” said Spartans Head Coach Kyle Larson.
Playing her final game of her high school career, Allie Davidson came out in front of a lively crowd and buried six of her team-high 22 points in the first quarter, as the Spartans trailed 13-10 after the first 10 minutes.
At times this season, scoring has dried up for the Spartans in stretches. For whatever reason – whether it’s shots not falling or defences cramping down – the well has been known to dry up at times and it did again in the second quarter.
Turnovers, and the Spartans going 0-for-6 as a team from the land beyond in the second quarter, allowed the Buffalos to expand their lead to 28-17 at half time.
On defence, the Spartans tried to deny the Buffalos’ low-post combo of Rachel Harvey and Brittney Rhodes the ball by trapping them and double-teaming them at times with Natalie Funk and Kristen Whelan, but the Buffalo bigs found ways to utilize shooters elsewhere, as Reagan Zottl chipped in five points in the quarter.
Coming out of the locker room after half time, Davidson and fellow senior Kaylin Larson came out firing.
Kaylin came out and drilled a three, the Spartans first of the game. The next few trips down the floor she dotted Davidson with a backdoor feed, drew a foul and stroked another three, as she was gunning it in her final game.
“My seniors were definitely our leaders all year,” said coach Larson. “Kay and Allie went down battling today. I couldn’t have asked for much more out of those two.”
The Spartans hung with the Buffalos in the third, tying them 16-16, but still wound up trailing them 44-33.
In the fourth, the Buffalos pulled into the fast lane and were never seen from again, when they scored on their first five trips down the floor, stretching the lead to 20 at times.
“There were times when we couldn’t get a shot to go in and we dug ourselves too big of a hole against a very strong team,” said Larson. “I’m very proud of the way we hung in there and battled to the end.”
Whelan fouled out of her last game, while Sydney Boyd turned in four points in her last game with the red, white and blue.
“I just feel bad for Mackenzie (Desjardins),” said Larson. “She injured her meniscus during the Brooks tournament and wasn’t healthy enough to finish up her career the way she wanted. She would have been a big factor in this game if she was healthy.”
Kaylin Larson finished with nine points on three 3s on several attempts. But after the final horn sounded and the medals were handed out, she was just happy to be a part of the game with her family and friends.
“We always hoped to make provincials, but I got to play with lots of fun girls and we had a pretty good year,” said Kaylin, who was playing under her coach dad for the first time in a Spartans uniform. “I liked playing for my parents. It’s always basketball all the time at our house anyways, so it was nice to share the floor with them. I loved it.”
The Spartans figured at some point they would collide with the Buffalos last weekend. They were able to meet the eventual zone representatives by knocking off the Canmore Collegiate High School Crusaders 67-39 March 7 in what coach Larson called their best performance all year.
The Spartans shot 39 per cent from the floor and 40 per cent from three, as Davidson again led the way with 17 points. Ashley McCreadie turned in her best outing of the weekend with a 10-point performance. Jaidyn Eitzen only scored one bucket on four attempts but led the Spartans with 10 rebounds.
They earned their ticket into the gold medal game when they shaved the provincial host Cochrane High School Cobras 61-60 in the semi.
“They turned it on late, but it was a game we controlled by 10 or so the whole way,” said Larson.
After Davidson’s 15 points, Sydney Boyd racked up 15 points on 4-of-13 shooting, while Funk added nine points and 19 rebounds.
All the senior boys could do is cheer from the bleachers last weekend, as they dropped their zone play-in game March 5 to the Olds High School Spartans.