Kodiaks off to semifinals
The Lethbridge College Kodiaks men’s and women’s basketball teams each started the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference playoffs with a win.
And in the case of the Kodiak men, they downed the defending ACAC and Canadian Colleges Athletic Association champions in the process, downing the NAIT Ooks 80-77 Thursday night in Medicine Hat.
Meanwhile at the Val Matteotti Gymnasium, the ACAC women’s provincial hosts scored a decisive 91-35 win over the Lakeland College Rustlers.
In the men’s game, the Kodiaks opened a 44-31 lead at halftime before the Ooks came back late to cut the gap, outscoring Lethbridge 24-15 in the fourth quarter before the Kodiaks hung on for the threepoint win.
Chris Maughan scored 30 points and hauled in nine rounds and Grady Taylor drained 24 points for the Kodiaks.
Pierce Van Gaalen had eight rebounds and four assists.
The Kodiaks will now face the host Rattlers in the semifinal tonight at 8 p.m.
In the women’s game, the Kodiaks led 38-9 at halftime on their way to the win.
Sunder West led the way for Lethbridge with 28 points, Emma Lowry had 15 and Logan Moncks chipped in with 12.
Coming off the bench, Leah Ekubazgi put up 14 points.
Megan Ferraz scored nine points for the Rustlers.
The Kodiaks will face the SAIT Trojans in the semifinal tonight at 8 p.m. at the Val Matteotti Gymnasium.
In the other semifinal, the Medicine Hat College Rattlers will take on the St. Mary’s Lightning at 6 p.m.
Keyano and NAIT will open the day at 1 p.m., followed by Concordia University and Lakeland at 3 p.m.
Women St. Mary’s Lightning 71, Keyano College Huskies 48
Jenny Leinweber led the Lightning with 16 points and Laura Belisle and Montana Romeril scored 14 and 11 points, respectively for St. Mary’s.
For the Huskies, Danielle McLellan had a 20point afternoon and Sarah Macdonald chipped in with 12.
Moiyan Toure hauled in 10 boards for Keyano.
Medicine Hat Rattlers 71, NAIT Ooks 53
The Rattlers jumped out to a 20-8 lead after the first quarter and a 35-24 lead at halftime as Medicine Hat downed the 23-1 Ooks.
Courtney Henry and Kennedy Werre each had 21 points for Medicine Hat and Megan Getz bucketed 14.
Dragana Vukovic had 13 rebounds to go along with eight points and Werre hauled in 10 boards.
Torey Hill led the Ooks with 13 points and 12 rebounds and Alyssa Bridgeman scored 11.
SAIT Trojans 64, Concordia University College Thunder 48
Alicia Tan led the Trojans with 19 points and Alexa Tan and Stephanie Haynes had 18 and 12 points, respectively.
For the Thunder, Morgan Dool had 14 points and Nakita Newman added 10.
Men SAIT Trojans 86, Lakeland Rustlers 74
John Smith paced the Trojans with 27 points, while Murphy Beya added 16 as the Trojans started the weekend on a winning note. Taner Parrington chipped in with 11 points for the Trojans.
Beya added 12 rebounds for SAIT.
For the Rustlers, Jonathan Sappleton led the way with 21 points and Artavis Holiday added 16. Travis Blacker came off the bench for Lakeland and hit for 14 points.
Red Deer Kings 95, Concordia University College Thunder 73
The Kings had six players hit double digits as the 15-6 Kings toppled the 20-4 Thunder.
Matt Matear led Red Deer with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Anthony Robbs came off the bench and drained 16 to go along with 10 boards.
Shayne Stumpf (15 points), Ian Tevis (13), Khurram Sultan (13) and Spencer Klassen (11) were the other double digit players for the Kings.
For the Thunder, Brett Jakubec hit for 29 points, while Mike Malin chipped in with 15 and Ben Grimsrud had 10.