Knight time arrived with the Foothills Athletic Council championship on the line.
The Holy Trinity Academy Knights shot the lights out and played hard-nosed defence throughout to defeat the Oilfields Drillers 78-41 in the FAC senior girls basketball championship match March 7 in Okotoks, earning their third title in the past four seasons.
“The Knights came out gunning it and they wanted it more than us at this point,” said Drillers head coach James Holladay. “They were hitting their shots and we weren’t right at the beginning of the game and it became a mental game at that point.
“I actually thought we were playing better than they were to start the game, but nothing was going in. Then (the Knights) started hitting a few and they rolled with it. Give them props, they came out hard and they wanted it.”
The Drillers beat the Knights one month ago in league play, a result which changed the course of the Knights' season and served as a major rallying point for the squad.
“We had a lot of team talks about that game,” said Knights guard Skylar Bonertz. “It was kind of the low-point of our season. We weren’t playing like a team that game.
“Before (this) game we just said let’s not do that again and bring up the energy.”
The Knights came out with a ton of defensive intensity and despite the Drillers winning the rebound battle at times, held Oilfields to six points in the first quarter.
“We had a little talk before and we said we can’t get frazzled or anything,” said Knights senior Emily Henderson. “We can’t lose our minds. We just kept it calm, cool and collected.”
After Drillers guard Amanda Burritt cut the deficit to 15-9 on a three-point play early in the second quarter, the Knights rebounded with an 11-0 run.
Henderson had an 8-0 run herself with consecutive three-pointers and a lay-up in transition as the Knights took the 35-16 advantage into the half.
“It was a nice little rush, especially three after three then a steal and a lay-up,” Henderson said. “I think that was when I was like ‘oh I can do this.’ It just gave me a lot of motivation.
“When I’m playing a game and do something right it just makes me want to do more.”
In the second half, the Drillers found their outside shooting with Burritt and Jocelyn Holladay combining for a trio of three pointers. The Knights again countered effectively with Nyah Hicke and Kylie Tiedje hitting a pair of key jumpers.
“It was just keeping the momentum going,” Bonertz said. “We usually get tired in the second-half so this time we just brought up that energy right off the bat.
“And that made a huge difference.”
Tiedje led the offence with 15 points, Hicke had 12 while Bonertz was dynamic on defence with eight rebounds and eight steals.
On the boards, Brooklyn Bonertz had a team high 10 rebounds and Sawyer Harding had nine.
“There were a lot of little things to take from the game,” coach Holladay said. “We had some girls who worked really hard and shots weren’t falling for them. They were where they were supposed to be, offence was clicking things just weren’t finishing.”
Both teams swiftly swing their attention on the South Central Zones this week.
The Knights are hosts of the 4A senior boys and girls zone championship starting March 10 against both Foothills Composite and Chestermere.
“I know it’s going to be a really good game against Chestermere and Comp,” Henderson said. “We will just have to play our absolute best and come in with a lot of hype and good attitudes.”
In Black Diamond, Oilfields is home to the 2A girls zone championship from March 13-14 as well as provincials from March 19-21.
“For a 30-game season this is the only game we’ve been blown out,” Holladay said. “I told the team we’re allowed one of these, no more. We’ve got that out of the way, better now than at provincials or zones.”
