Kodiaks continue fight for their post-season lives
Michael Clemons got an unexpected visitor.
As the graduating guard for the Lethbridge College Kodiaks got ready for his final Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference regular season home game Saturday afternoon at the Val Matteotti Gymnasium the product of El Paso, Texas via Grande Prairie knew there were going to be some pre-game festivities in his honour.
What he didn’t expect was to see his best buddy come walking through the door.
That’s exactly what happened when Clemons’ former teammate Cole Crick — now a student at UNBC in Prince George — was announced by Kodiaks head coach Ryan Heggie.
“I had no idea,” said Clemons. “I was standing in line and I jumped up and went to hug him because I haven't seen them in about a year. It was an awesome experience. He’s one of my best friends.”
Heggie led an emotional pre-game ceremony that was capped off with a plaque presentation and photo opportunity.
“I though it was very insightful and I appreciate it,” said Clemons. “I’m not an emotional guy, but I appreciate everything they did.”
Once that was through, the Kodiaks resumed the fight for their playoff lives with a 93-55 win over the Briercrest Clippers to wrap up a key 2-0 weekend after a 94-58 win Friday night.
The wins put the Kodiaks at 10-9, two points behind the Red Deer Kings (11-8) for the fourth-and-final playoff spot.
The Kodiaks finish the regular season Friday and Saturday in Olds against the 613 Broncos. The Kings are in Briercrest to face the 2-17 Clippers.
“We know what Red Deer has to do,” said Heggie. “We know we have to go into Olds and win. They are the only team to beat SAIT this year. SAIT lost one game all year and it was to Olds and that’s our next opponent. It’s going to be tough and we are in their gym for two games.”
Orin Porter Jr. paced the Kodiaks in Saturday’s win with 21 points. Daniel Lybbert and Lincoln Anderson added 15 points each and Clemons had 11 points, 13 rebounds, 18 assists and seven steals.
“We have really dug in on the defensive end and say ‘This is where we are going to win games,’” said Dotts. “We struggle to score at times and we know that as a team. So we decided that defence is going to be what the name of the game is for us. The girls have really bought into that. We lost early to Medicine Hat and then we lost that one to St. Mary’s. We talked about a playoff push. We have to win the games we have to win to keep going and that’s been a goal for them all year.”
“I feel like we came out hungry,” added Anderson. “We really wanted to win. Not to compare, but last season we didn't like how that ended and we wanted to make playoffs this year. That was our whole goal from the beginning. So in the second half we knew we were so close we just need to tighten up and clinch these games and we did that. We said that if our offence isn’t working we’re going to play defence.
“We had a lot of growth at the beginning of the season. We had a few new players and I’m new. We just wanted it.”
Follow @DWoodardHerald on Twitter