Comets and Lakers girls teams both win provincial titles in dominating fashion

By Garrett Simmons
Westwind Weekly News

The Raymond Comets senior girls basketball team swept through the 4A provincials in dominating fashion, to earn the title of champions.

Saturday’s final was a mismatch from the opening tip, as Raymond cruised to an 82-51 victory over Western Canada.

Comets star Delaney Gibb scored her team’s first five points and finished with 26 to lead the way.

Raymond led 21-12 after the first quarter and held a 34-26 advantage at the half. From there, the Comets turned it on in the second half and pulled away, as Ellie Clawson had 23 and points, Kadie Anderson had 12 and Summer Long finished with 10.

Raymond began the competition as the No. 1 seed and took down No. 16 Hunting Hills in the first round by a score of 84-23.

Next up was No. 8 Lindsay Thurber, as Raymond dispatched the underdogs by a score of 90-57.

That set up a semifinal against No. 4 Foothills, another team that was no match for the Comets, as Raymond won by a score of 105-63.

The No. 5 ranked Magrath Pandas won in the opening round with a 60-38 victory over No. 12 Leduc Composite.

Magrath’s championship hopes ended in the next round after a 61-54 loss to Foothills.

The Pandas went on to defeat Thurber 40-37 and proceeded to drop the first-place game against No. 3 Harry Ainlay, by a score of 58-55.

On the 4A boys side, Raymond advanced to the semifinals but ran into No. 2 ranked St. Mary’s, the eventual provincial champions, and lost 87-65.

The Comets then dropped the third-place game in a 94-92 defeat at the hands of Western Canada.

Raymond started play as the No. 3 seed and beat No. 14 St. Joseph’s 85-63 in the opening round. The Comets then topped No. 6 Archbishop O’Leary in the quarters by a score of 84-71.

No. 7 ranked Magrath beat No. 10 Lester B. Pearson 91081 in the first round, and then fell to St. Mary’s in round two by a score of 99-76.

The Zeniths then fell 90-85 to No. 6 O’Leary, which ended Magrath’s tournament.

Stirling’s 1A girls team also won a provincial title, also in dominating fashion, as the Lakers crushed No. 2 Olds Koinonia 74-43 in the final. Paisley Sillito scored Sitlring’s first 10 points and finished with 36.

Stirling, the No. 1 seed, had a first-round bye and began play with a 63-18 win in the quarters over Glendon School. The Lakers then swept through the semis with a 90-33 victory over Hines Creek.

The Stirling boy team saw its gold-medal hopes die in the semis after an 81-63 loss to No. 3 ranked Parkland Immanuel Christian.

The No. 2 ranked Lakers started strong with a second-round win over No. 7 Rundle College, by a score of 80-42.

After the semifinal defeat, Stirling rebounded with a 73-64 win over No. 4 Sexsmith in the third-place game.

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