Rattler women into ACAC semis
With their top-scoring guard out of the lineup, the Medicine Hat College Rattlers women’s basketball team had to find a way to keep defences honest.
Turns out, their forwards can shoot the three.
At Calgary, the Rattlers beat the Concordia Thunder 63-57, advancing to today’s Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference semifinal (8 p.m.) against arch-rival and tournament host SAIT.
The winner will book a trip to New Brunswick for nationals.
Missing guard Kendell Kuntz — who transferred to Medicine Hat after playing a few years at SAIT — to a late-season knee injury, the Rattlers got key long-range baskets from a variety of sources. ACAC player of the year Kennedy Werre, plus fellow forwards Sheridan Popenia and Jordyn Kearley all hit first-half three-pointers as their team built a 10-point lead.
Werre led with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Courtney Henry also had 17 points. Concordia’s Sofia Lucadello led all scorers with 19, but neither team managed a point in the final 2:31.
Medicine Hat led all but eight seconds of the game.
Men’s squad falls short
The goal of getting back to nationals is over for the Medicine Hat College Rattlers men’s basketball team.
At Lethbridge Thursday, the Rattlers lost 86-81 to the Lakeland Rustlers in an Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference quarter-final.
Medicine Hat trailed for most of the game, taking the lead just three times in all. Each time, the Rustlers responded with a basket on their next possession.
The last instance came in the final minute. A Jon Sappleton layup with 43 seconds to go gave the Rattlers their first lead since early in the second quarter. But seven seconds later Lakeland’s Prentice Gardner responded with a dagger of a three-pointer. DeAngelo Ashley was called for a foul on the ensuing Rattlers possession, and that was about it.
Lakeland led by as many as 13 in the third quarter before Aaron Cameron willed his team back, scoring eight points as part of a 12-0 run that cut the lead to one.
Cameron led Medicine Hat with 22 points. Sappleton and Ashley each had 13. Adrian Richards had 24 for the Rustlers. Medicine Hat plays in a 3 p.m. consolation side game today. If they win they’ll play for bronze on Saturday. Lose and their season is over.