Redmen Defeat Coyotes in Girls CBC Final

Jonas Emilsson
www.KramMag.com

Thanks to a blazing fast start the Western Canada Redmen laid claim to the girl’s Calgary Basketball Classic trophy with a 71-60 over Centennial Coyotes on Saturday night.

The two top-ranked Calgary senior girls basketball teams breezed through their respective tournament brackets to set up another chapter in their on-going rivalry that’s surely to grow more intense this season.

The Redmen jumped out to a 29-9 in the first quarter by deploying a frantic tempo on both sides of the court.

6′0″ guard Isidora Purkovic’s 13 first-quarter points also didn’t hurt. The skilled veteran controlled much of the opening minutes by creating turnovers and pushing the ball quickly up the court to find open teammates for easy buckets.

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If the looks weren’t there she comfortably pulled up and drained the shots.

“I think our first quarter was probably one our best,” commented Redmen head coach Sheldon Brady after the game. “We came out with some intensity defensively and we can really get going if we play defensive in the half-court because we have some girls that can run the floor and get down and score in a hurry.”

But the Coyotes are a good team and weren’t about to roll over with three quarters left in a championship game.

They cranked up the defence in the second quarter and started forcing the Redmen into turnovers that quickly turned into Coyotes scoring opportunities.

Coyotes’ guard Montana Romeril took control of the Coyotes’ offence. She hit two consecutive three-pointers and did a masterful job to get her teammates open looks at the basket.

The Coyotes trimmed the lead to single digits midway through the second quarter, but the Redmen regained their form and closed out the opening half with a strong run to earn a 46-29 halftime lead.

“We hit some walls but I think this early in a season you’re going to have that because the fitness isn’t there for everybody, the execution isn’t there for everybody,” said Brady. “All we’re asking our girls to do at this point in the season is to continue to work hard and do it together and try to be smart with decision making.”

Both teams evenly battled back and forth in the second half. The Redmen lead 59-45 after three quarters.

Brady admitted that neither team were likely to deploy much strategy for the game considering the season is still young and teams don’t yet have the luxury of familiarity.

He did know however that the Coyotes possess a dangerous inside-outside game, and shutting both down is an extremely difficult task.

“He’s (Coyotes head coach Ken Zelez) got a good inside-outside game, he’s got three shooters that can hit the outside shot if you leave them open looks,” said Brady. “When you talk about strategy you almost have to pick your poison and we chose to take away the inside today.”

“I thought we did pretty good in the paint, in the first half especially,” continued Brady. “Centennial is a very good team and you have to take them seriously for every minute. We had an 18-point lead and it got to six, and that’s because they’re a good team.”

Both teams will now start preparing for the regular season that starts next week.

Brady knows that winning the Calgary Basketball Classic tournament doesn’t guarantee his team will cruise through the season and lead to an automatic championship. The league possesses too many good teams this season.

“There’s a good, solid four or five teams in Calgary that on any given night can beat anybody so it’s important to keep improving but I think our girls are up for the challenge,” said Brady.

Purkovic scored a game-high 24 points and her teammate Medeleine Rogers chipped in with 14 points.

Romeril and Alexa Gray each scored 12 points to lead the Coyotes’ attack.

Click here for all the action photos from this game.