Raymond at LCI football on this week’s sports schedule
Raymond at LCI football this Thursday, 7 p.m. kickoff, at the University of Lethbridge Community Stadium. Winner advances to Alberta Schools Athletic Association provincial Tier I (unlimited-enrolment) quarter-finals. Loser hangs up the cleats.
Simple, yes, but can’t produce a much more impactful high school sporting lead (lede if you will) in this area than that.
LCI emerged victorious 24-21 over homestanding Raymond in their see-saw Friday, Sept. 28, regular-season tilt. I have absolutely no idea who the favourite should be in this clash.
Friday evening, Claresholm Willow Creek travels to Taber W.R. Myers with a Tier IV South Zone banner on the line. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. Both teams advance to provincial quarters on or about Nov. 10, though. Myers defeated the defending provincial Tier IV champs from Claresholm 36-14, on Oct. 4 in Taber.
As well, Friday evening, Catholic Central journeys to face Medicine Hat High in the Gas City playing off for a slot in the Tier II provincials. Again, it’s a scheduled 7 p.m. start. These teams did not play during the regular season.
Cardston has already earned a Tier III provincial quarters invite. ••• The Southern Alberta High School Volleyball League regular season ends this week. Actually, I’m writing this column well in advance. By the time this product emerges either Catholic Central or LCI will have clinched the boys’ varsity regularseason title, while Catholic Central or Chinook will hold the varsity girls’ hardware.
Junior varsity boys victors will either be Catholic Central, Cardston or Magrath. Due to the scheduling concept employed this year, there will be no junior varsity girls regular-season champ determined, but Cardston, Raymond, Catholic Central and Chinook have all put up excellent won-loss records.
Junior varsity playoff tournaments are served this weekend.
Magrath hosts the massive JV girls showdown Friday and Saturday, with Winston Churchill the boys’ JV site on Saturday.
There’s been plenty of construction at Magrath over the past 18 months and it will be nice to see the gym (there are two in the school) related upgrades.
Next week it’s varsity playoff time. More here next Wednesday.
WELLSIE’S WORLD — Anyone who knows me well at all realizes my deep passion for University of Lethbridge basketball. I first became formally involved in 1977, but debuted as a fervent follower well before that, initially largely due to men’s head coach Logan
Tait, a habitually busy great man of many talents, including serving as my Sunday School teacher at oh-so-beautiful Southminster United.
The U of L opens its 2018-19 Canada West regular season at home this weekend, Friday and Saturday, entertaining Edmonton’s Grant MacEwan. Women are scheduled to tip at 6 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday, followed by men’s action.
November is actually quite busy at home for U of L’s court warriors, entertaining Winnipeg on Nov. 23-24, then hosting the rival University of Calgary Dinos for a rare Thursday night showdown Nov. 29.
Last season in Lethbridge the U of L lads were the last team to defeat U of C before the Dino men went on an improbable run to the national title. The announced — and at times frenzied — crowd that night was 1,553. I don’t see any good reason why the U of L can’t attract more for the U of C visit this season. Heck, it should be standing room (2,100 seats if sideline chairs are used, 2,500 capacity including standees) in my opinion.
As for the games leading up to the Calgary showdowns, more fans certainly make for a better environment.
Canada West is now a 17-team hoop league. U of L men were rated No. 4 in a pre-season head coaches poll, with the U of L women pegged at No. 9.
I was tickled to note the U of L women’s hockey team shut out the U of C women’s outfit in a home-and-home Canada West series last weekend.
Last spring, mobile right-handed shooting, now fifth-year, U of L defender
Jodi Gentile did a lot of her Professional Semester II teaching prep out of the same Campus East workroom Catholic Central graciously let me centre my Southern Alberta Interscholastic Administrative Council activities co-ordinator duties out of. I see Jodi was plus three in the U of C series and is plus three for the Canada West campaign. I’ve watched four periods this campaign live.
For the first few weeks last spring we barely spoke, but after Jodi got rolling I found her to be a very willing conversationalist who loves sports, indeed a rather good match in those areas with moi.
My biggest surprise came when Jodi excitedly blurted out her family members generations ago had been foundations of building the gambling sector in Las Vegas. She was looking forward to visiting the (apparently significant) mob museum there where some kin are featured, as part of a Sin City 21st birthday present trip bestowed by her dad.
I hadn’t even realized Gentile was an Italian name, furthermore (presumably) Sicilian.
Thus, readers are warned perhaps it’s probably best not to wrong Jodi Gentile on, or off, the ice.
Happy to watch (on TV) Sherwood Park Bev Facey grad Chuba Hubbard, who excelled in track and football in these parts, have an outstanding gridiron game for Oklahoma State in their upset win over Texas last Saturday. I see he’s listed at sixfoot-one, 207 pounds now. At one time, albeit at a lower weight, he finished fifth in the World Junior Track and Field Championships 100 metres. Certainly looks like a potential NFLer to me.
Watching the Montreal Alouettes struggle these last two seasons, particularly on the offensive line, I see how important Taber W.R. Myers/LCI/Tulsa product Jeff
Perrett must have been to their squad. The listed six-foot-seven, 320-pounder (and I’d guess the nimble dancing bear often tipped the old Toledos at significantly more), played 10 seasons in Montreal, including on two Grey Cup champions and was the CFL East Division Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman in 2015.