Leduc Comp. Surprises Opposition

    The Christ the King (CTK) Boys Basketball team hosted their annual invitational tournament of Feb 15th & 16th. Participating in the two-day event were teams from Assumption, Lamont, Viking, Bonnyville, Edmonton, and Rimbey. Unfortunately Parkland Immanuel Christian withdrew and the eight-team event became a seven-team tournament.
    CTK did an excellent job of revamping the tournament’s draw to guarantee at least three games for all schools with several playing four. In CTK’s first game they faced the Vikings, a team that had gone undefeated this season and is ranked sixth in the Alberta Schools Athletic Association’s (ASAA) 1A provincial rankings. 
    Viking had a strong first half and took a 29 to 18 lead at halftime. The two teams played evenly in the third quarter with Viking holding a 44 to 34 advantage with ten minutes to play. The boys from CTK were determined to give Viking a game and made a charge. With three minutes to go the Viking was holding a slim 51 to 47 lead. For the last 30 seconds CTK was forced to put the Vikings on the foul line, but were unable to cut further into Vikings’ lead and lost 56 to 51.
    In CTK’s second game they played the Lakers from Lamont. CTK came out strong and swamped the Lakers 26 to 10 in the first quarter and continued to play a balanced game as they beached Lamont 79 to 37 and posted their first victory of the season. This victory placed CTK in the semifinals against a strong team from Assumption. Assumption had gained the semifinal game by defeating the Rimbey Spartans 74 to 40. The CTK Chargers came out strong in their game against the Crusaders, who are ranked eleventh in the province. At the end of the first quarter the game was tied 13 to 13 but in the second quarter Assumption took control of the boards and took advantage of their size and strong defense to win 59 to 42 
    This defeat placed CTK into the third place game against Notre Dame of Bonnyville. The Wildcats took a commanding 24 to 12 lead in the first quarter and even though CTK made a number of runs coming within two points twice in the second half Notre Dame was able to deflect the Chargers and defeated CTK 82 to 68 taking the third place trophy.
    The final pitted the Vikings from Viking against the Crusaders from Assumption. The Crusaders won the championship with a 64 to 53 victory.
    Meanwhile the Leduc Comp boys’ team surprised the ASAA’s #2 3A ranked Edmonton Christian 103 to 98, and the  #3 3A ranked St Albert 68 to 67 on their way to the finals at the St Albert invitational tournament.  The Tigers have been playing well and generally win two out of every three games during tournament play. In the final the team faced the Bev Facey Falcons, a top ranked 4A team and were not able to garner the title as the Falcons took the title with a convincing victory.
    League playoffs have begun with the CTK and Beaumont boys and girls’ teams losing their first round games and are now competing in the City Division II playoffs. The CTK teams traveled to Fort Saskatchewan. Meanwhile the Beaumont boys were  host to Archbishop Oscar Romeo and the girls  hosted Bellerose. The Leduc Girls defeated Sturgeon 67 to 34 and advanced to the quarterfinals where they faced #1 ranked Austin O’Brien.
    The high school basketball season is rapidly coming to a close with zone playoffs beginning in early March followed by the provincial championships March 14th to 16th