The Holy Trinity Academy Knights booked their ticket to the Senior girls provincials with a zone championship at the expense of a familiar foe.
The Knights eclipsed their Foothills Athletic Council (FAC) competitors the Highwood High Mustangs 65-53 in the 3A (400-799 students) Senior girls South Central Zone final March 9 at the Olds College gym.
The Mustangs beat the Knights in both of their (FAC) regular season meetings with the Knights getting the better of the High River school in a tournament tilt in February.
Knights head coach Ken Power said the fourth matchup between the clubs marked Holy Trinity Academy’s (HTA) first complete performance of the season.
“In the zone final we were able to put together a complete game offensively and defensively. The result was a 12-point victory. Where all of our previous games have been really close,” Power said.
The first half was a see-saw affair with Knights’ tenacious guard Melissa Bass showing off her range with a trio of three pointers and 12 points after 20 minutes. Meanwhile Highwood’s university-bound standout Katie Waring potted 18 points.
The Knights carried a modest 35-32 lead into the break. HTA padded its lead outscoring Highwood 18-11 in the third quarter helping the Okotoks school to the 65-53 victory.
Bass finished with a team high 21 points and chipped in with seven boards, fellow guard Kylie Pozniak put up 20 points and forward Ryan Kennedy cleaned up in the paint with 12 rebounds. The Knights’ three-point shooting was on point in the zone final as they shot 50 per cent from behind the arc in knocking down seven three-pointers.
Pozniak said the Knights’ outside shooting was a major factor in the result.
“It makes a huge difference, two three-pointers and that can put you ahead so much and it messes up the other team mentally,” Pozniak said. “I think it was just as a team, we played really well together, we stayed positive and encouraged one another.”
Power said the Knights’ proficiency from the line, where they knocked down 76 per cent of their free throw attempts, as well as their 32 per cent field goal percentage were also vital components of the victory.
“The three previous times we played Highwood we shot 22 and 23 per cent, so our shooting percentage was 10 points higher,” Power said.
The HTA coach said his team’s ball management was also key to its zone triumph.
“We only had 16 turnovers which was one of our lowest totals of the year, we took care of the ball really well.”
On the defensive side of the court, Power said the Knights put an emphasis on limiting Waring’s ability to find open shots for her fellow Mustangs.
“Our goal against Highwood is to recognize she’s a talented player and to try and disrupt her ability to help her teammates get easy shots and I think we did a very good job of that,” Power said.
“Kyra Lindenbach, one of our better player-to-player defensive players, played a lot of minutes against (Waring),” Power said. “What Kyra is very good at doing is she pressures her so well that it makes it hard for Katie to find her teammates.
“In that game (Waring) had 28 points, but no other player on Highwood had more than eight.”
The Knights are seeded third at the 3A Senior girls provincials, hosted by Camrose Composite High School March 15-17, giving HTA a bye through the first round of play. The Knights will play their first game on March 16 against the winner of the six versus 11 seed matchup. Power, who expects to medal at the championships, said the top two seeds, St. Albert and McCoy High, are the proverbial tournament favourites.
“Our first goal is to get into the semifinals and we would end up playing St. Albert in all likelihood and then play our best game of the year and hope they’re a little bit off,” Power said.
Pozniak said the team has the ability to surprise at the Camrose event.
“Going in this year just to play like we did in the (zone) finals, if we work hard we have a chance to upset,” Pozniak said.
