Ainlay tops LCI in Sugar Bowl final
On the silver anniversary of their last Raymond Sugar Bowl title, the LCI Rams struck silver.
The boys basketball team battled their way to the gold medal game of the 51st annual Sugar Bowl Wednesday night at Raymond High School, but settled for silver following a 95-71 loss to Edmonton Harry Ainlay Titans.
Seeking their first sweet taste of a Sugar Bowl title since 1992, the Rams trailed the Titans 65-52 after the third quarter in the gold medal game before Ainlay pulled away in the final quarter, outscoring the Rams 30-19 the rest of the way to take the 51st Sugar Bowl title north to Edmonton.
“We had them to two points late in the third quarter and we were getting excited that we might be able to take a run at winning the game, but we fell short,” said Rams head coach Mike Evans. “I was was really pleased with our team’s hustle. Harry Ainlay is a great team, well-coached and has a lot of great players. We have nothing but respect for them, but we hope to be able to meet them again in the provincials.”
John Evans buried 16 points in the first half of the gold medal game for LCI on his way to a 19-point evening, while teammate Isaiah Bagnah wasn’t far behind with 18 points, earning the Player of the Game honour for the Rams.
“I think they’re a good team and we’re a good team,” said Bagnah. “They came out with the ‘W’ and we got unlucky tonight. But we if we keep working hard we’ll come back the next time for sure.”
Lucas Knitel-Althen added 12 points for LCI in the final.
For the Titans, Ajou Ajou completed a strong weekend with 31 points that also earned him the tournament Most Valuable Player award in addition to Player of the Game.
Shae McIntyre and Brandon Micklejohn each added 12 points for Harry Ainlay and Ariel Mutrware scored 11.
The Rams downed the Raymond Comets 10499 in the semifinals Wednesday afternoon.
The Sugar Bowl silver medal comes early in the season for the Rams, who have started Southern Alberta High School Basketball League play at 2-1.
“I think we have a lot of good aspects,” said Bagnah. “We’re a hardworking team and the season is going well. We had some downfalls, but we keep coming back.”
Post-game Wednesday night, Bagnah reflected on getting to spend the last two days competing in a Sugar Bowl and the packed Raymond High School gymnasium that comes with it.
“The atmosphere, the team and all the fans coming out, it’s just a great feeling,” said Bagnah. “It’s a great experience and we’re all lucky to be here.”
In the semifinal win over the Comets, John Evans led LCI with 26 points.
Derek McNabb and Knitel-Althen each had 19 points for the Rams and Isiah Bagnah chipped in with 14.
For Raymond, Drake Still paced the team with 28 points and teammate Jeter Heggie added 26.
Also hitting double digits for the Comets was Garrett Hasegawa (16) and Parker Graves (11).
In the other semifinal, the Titans topped the Cardston Cougars 92-82.
Leading the Cougars was Taylor Barfuss with 21 points.
Mikhail Moojalsky put up 16 points for Cardston and Bryn Nelson hit for 11.
Ajou Ajou led Harry Ainlay with 22 points.
The Cougars emerged as the bronze medal winners following an 8984 win over the Comets.
Barfuss topped Cardston with 32 points en route to the thirdplace win. Nelson had an 18-point game and Ty Lewis replied with 13 points.
For the Comets, Brady Baines powered the offence with 28 points.
Heggie added 16 points, Graves had 15 and Hasegawa and Drake Still added 12 points each.
The Magrath Zeniths captured the consolation side with a 93-74 decision over the Ross Sheppard T-Birds as Taylor Cook lit it up with a 38-point game.
Mason Stock, Sam Payne and Paycen Blackmore hit for 15, 13, and 11 points for the Zeniths, respectively.
Leading the T-Birds was Madit Lueeth with 16 points.
In the consolation semifinal, the Zeniths topped the Camrose Trojans 87-59 as Blackmore had a 32point afternoon.
Stock put up 17 points for Magrath, Cook added 15 and Austin Wocknitz scored 10.
For Camrose, Griffin Lorenz led the way with 21 points.
In the other consolation semifinal, the T-Birds defeated the Foothills Falcons 88-60.
Leading the T-Birds was Bradley Bright with 16 points. Uriel Attiglah and Wayne Millan added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Hunter Boriskewich was the top Falcons scorer with 17 points.
In the late Friday games, the Rams downed the T-Birds 8575.
Evans hit for 37 points for LCI, Bagnah had 14 and Will Boehme chipped in with 10.
Madit Lueeth led Ross Sheppard with 14 points. In the final game Tuesday night, the Comets topped the Falcons 94-83 as Graves and Heggie hit for 22 and 20 points, respectively.
Hasegawa had 18 points for Raymond, Still scored 16 and Liam Davison contributed with 12. Tyson Pitcher and Jaxen Perrett each had 17 points for Foothills.
Heggie was awarded the Comet Award, while Evans, Cook, Barfuss, Graves and Titan Ariel Mutrware were named as Tournament All-Stars.