Local basketball teams win zone tournaments and prepare for provincials 

By Garrett Simmons
Westwind Weekly News

March Madness has taken over southern Alberta.

The 2024 4A zone championships saw local teams come out on top, as Raymond earned the JV boys title with a 63-52 win over Lethbridge Collegiate Institute.

The Comets also won the senior varsity girls title over LCI, this time by a score of 106-71, while the Magrath Zeniths dropped a tight 99-96 game in the senior varsity boys final.

The Comets won the SV boys third-place game with a 94-84 win over LCI, while Magrath took bronze in SV girls with a 59-44 triumph over Medicine Hat.

Now, teams prepare for the 2024 Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association 4A Girls and Boys Basketball Championships at Lindsay Thurber in Red Deer.

On the girls side of the draw, Raymond enters as the No. 1 seed. The Comets play today at 11 a.m. against No. 16 Hunting Hills. A win in that game puts Raymond in the 6 p.m. game tonight against the winner of No. 8 Lindsay Thurber and No. 9 Spruce Grove.

No. 5 ranked Magrath will take on No. 12 Leduc Composite today at 11 a.m. With a win, the Pandas will also play at 6 p.m., but against the winner of No. 4 Foothills Composite and No. 13 Medicine Hat.

Raymond is No. 3 in the boys draw, as the Comets will take on No. 14 St. Joseph’s today at 1 p.m., with a spot in Thursday’s 8 p.m. game on the line. With an opening-round win, Raymond would take on the winner of No. 6 Archbishop O’Leary and No. 11 Sir Winston Churchill.

Magrath begins its journey as the No. 7 seed, and will take on No. 10 Lester B. Pearson today at 1 p.m. A win would move the Zeniths to the 8 p.m. game tonight against either No. 2 St. Mary’s or No. 15 Lindsay Thurber.

Stirling is also sending teams to provincials, as the Lakers won the 1A girls zone title with a 76-22 win in the final over St. Mike’s. Paisley Sillito had 36 points in the victory, while Zoe Michelson had 19.

Stirling defeated Foremost 62-23 in the semifinal.

The girls will be in Airdrie for provincials, and open play as the No. 1 seed. As a result, the Lakers will not play until today at 3:30 p.m., against the winner of No. 8 Glendon School and No. 9 Rosemary School.

Stirling’s boys team won the 2A zone title in convincing fashion with a 106-64 victory over Kate Andrews. Lincoln Stasiuk led the way with 31 points, while Enoch Stone and Sterling Bohn added 22 points each.

The Lakers hammered Kainai in the semis to the tune of 97-38.

Stirling will be at Edmonton’s Millwoods Christian School for 2A provincials and will be the No. 2 seed. The Lakers earned a first-round bye and will play today at 4:45 p.m. against the winner of No. 7 Rundle College and No. 10 Oilfields.

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