Three years ago the Oilfields Drillers Senior girls basketball team didn ' t exist and the school was scrambling to get the program going.
Things have changed.
Now they are scrambling to make sure they have rooms booked for the 2A girls provincial basketball tournament in Lethbridge this weekend.
The Drillers earned the right to go to provincials by beating the Hanna Hawks 77-61 in the 2A (100-399 students) South Central zone final on March 10 in Strathmore. Oilfields led from start to finish and took a 12-point lead into the locker-room at halftime. The Drillers didn ' t panic when the Hawks started cutting into the lead.
“ In the third quarter, Hanna began making threes and pulled within seven but the Oilfields girls didn't panic,” said Drillers assistant coach Markes Fredricksen. “ They responded well in the fourth to win by 16.”
The Drillers went into the South Central zone as the no. 1 seed and they proved they deserved it. They opened the tournament with 60-28 victory over St. Joseph on March 9. Grade 12 student Becca Tucker was the Drillers ' leading scorer with 16 points. They easily advanced to the final by downing Three Hills 67-32.
Tucker said the Drillers ' didn ' t want to make their tilt with the Hawks the last game of the season.
“ Mr. (Drillers coach Jeff) Ovens told us that this could be our last game of the year so give it all you got,” Tucker said.
Grade 12 Driller guard didn ' t let sore ribs stop her from playing in the zone final.
“ I was always going to play — there was no way I was going to miss zones,” Hoar said. “ We went in there knowing we were going to win.”
The Drillers qualified for zones last year as a wild card. This time they are bona fide zone champions.
“ Everyone has peaked at the right time,” Hoar said. “ Our Grade 10s really played well for us. We are going to need them for this weekend.”
The Drillers are the no. 10 seed in the 12-team provincial tournament March 15-17 at Immanuel Christian School. Hoar isn ' t worried about seedlings.
“ Fort Macleod is the no. 1 seed and we won the Fort Macleod tournament this year,” Hoar said.
The Drillers open the 2A provincial tournament when they take on the Glenmary Saints on March 15. To follow the action go to www.asaa.ca and click on host sites.
