Kodiaks split with Queens
With an abundance of new faces on board, the Lethbridge College Kodiaks women’s basketball team came away with a pair of points to start the second half of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference season.
Following a 69-45 win over the Red Deer College Queens Friday night at the Val Matteotti Gymnasium, the Kodiaks fell short of the sweep as the Queens scored some payback Saturday with an 8472 decision that puts the Kodiaks at 4-5 to start the second semester.
On the men’s side, the Kodiaks were held winless as the Kings posted a 90-83 win Saturday to hit the road with the sweep that also puts the men at 4-5.
Following their win Friday, Kodiaks women’s coach Deanna Dotts knew they’d be facing a different Queens team.
“With it being our second game back from the second semester I was pretty impressed,” said Dotts. “We did a lot of things right. It’s always hard to come out and play that same team the next night because you’ve just played them 12 hours before that. Red Deer is always a scrappy team. We won by one up in Red Deer, so I knew a 24point win (Friday) was somewhat fluky. They’re a better team than that. In the second half they shot 42 per cent (from the field). They really caught fire. We just talked about not having lapses like that. When you have nine brand new girls in their first year playing in the ACAC, those are things we’re going to learn.”
Amy Arbon led the Kodiaks with 19 points, while Jaclyn Heggie hit for 16. Courtney Kwasney added 14 points, as did Matlin McMurray — one of the new players in the lineup — who came in off the bench.
“I think it was learning game for us,” said Jaclyn Heggie. “We have a lot of new faces and a lot of new faces that haven’t played before. It’s just getting to that point where we’re all on the same page of how we come onto the court after playing a team back-to-back. It’s definitely tough, but overall I think we handled it pretty well. I think they did great overall, it’s just those little mistakes we have to adjust to, but overall they’re coming into college basketball well.”
With the 1-1 weekend, the Kodiaks are in fifth place in the ACAC South, two points behind the St. Mary’s Lightning and the Olds Broncos — both 5-4 — for the final playoff spot.
With the second semester just getting underway, those spots are still up for grabs.
“It’s a time where anyone can win,” said Jaclyn. “There’s nothing set in stone right now and I think we have to mentally prepare for that.”
In the men’s game, the Kodiaks led 69-68 after the third quarter before the Kings won the final quarter 22-14 to head home with a pair of wins that moves Red Deer two points past the Kodiaks and into fourth in the ACAC South Division
“We’re not happy losing two home games to Red Deer,” said Kodiaks head coach Ryan Heggie. “However the guys really fought hard both games, even more so (Saturday). Red Deer never broke. They bent a little, but kept making plays every time we made a run. They are a really good basketball team and they shot it exceptionally well again today.”
Free throws once again played a factor with Red Deer going 24-30 compared to 1417 for Kodiaks.
“We’re giving up too many trips to the charity stripe,” said Heggie. “Our defence is aggressive, but obviously too aggressive at times. When we get that fixed it will make a huge difference. Our threepoint shooting as well in the fourth was not good, we missed them all.”
Still, Heggie credited his team for a gritty effort.
“We battled for 40 minutes, had only 10 turnovers, 24 team assists and shared the scoring load.”
Keanu Funa led the Kodiaks with 21 points, Cory Richardson had 14 and Colten Murray and Daniel Lybbert had 12. Michael Clemons added eight points.
Like the women’s team, the Kodiaks brought in some new players for the second half.
“Adding three players to rotation is a good challenge and we are working through it,” said Heggie. “I’m confident that the guys will continue to improve and be a tough team to beat here on out. Even with two losses we improved in some areas that will be beneficial moving forward.”
The Kodiaks are back home this weekend when the Olds Broncos visit Friday and Saturday.
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