It may have been a little tougher than they anticipated but in the end the Swift Current Comp. Ardens basketball team advanced to Hoopla where they hope to defend their 4A provincial title this weekend in Saskatoon.
The Ardens, who have won provincial medals the past three seasons, including a pair of provincial titles, posted two wins on home court to win their regional tournament and earn one of four spots in Hoopla, at the same time stretching their home winning streak to 29 games.
The second-ranked Ardens opened their regional tournament on home court with a dominating 77-13 win over Regina Martin after out-scoring the visitors 20-2 and 27-2 in the opening two quarters.
Tessa Andres led the Ardens with 19 points, followed by fellow grade 12 guard Lindsay Siemens with 15. Grade 10 Hayley Chalk added eight points and five steals. Nikki Francouer pulled down 12 rebounds, Jill Kennedy added 11 of her own, and Jane Kennedy had eight steals.
Saturday the Ardens booked their trip to Hoopla with a 49-39 win over Balgonie despite trailing most of the way before distancing themselves in the fourth quarter. Lindsay Siemens led the Ardens with 19 points and eight steals. Francouer added eight points and 10 rebounds. The Ardens trailed 25-18 at halftime and by as many as nine points during the game.
“I think there were more nerves than I was anticipating,” said head coach Rod Siemens. “Especially after last night where I thought we shot the ball very well and took care of the ball. Today we struggled offensively right from the start… It was a bit of nerves and just maybe not being focused on the offensive end.” The Ardens shot only 22 per cent on 18 for 80 shooting from the field to put their season in jeopardy.
“We actually probably expected it to be a lot easier,” admitted grade 10 forward Jill Kennedy, who helped spark the Ardens to the comeback win with a determined rebounding effort. “We thought it wasn’t going to be a challenge considering we have only lost to one (4A) team all year. But I am glad it was a good game and not a blowout because it is a lot more fun that way.”
The Ardens sealed the game in the fourth quarter when they scored 19 points but only allowed eight.
“I think it all goes back to defense. In the start of the second half the ball wasn’t going in for us but the girls felt it was just a matter of time because defensively we did a tremendous job in the second half with a real team effort,” said Siemens.
Kennedy said that despite the unexpected adversity the team stuck together to pull out the win.
“I think it is when we are together as a group in the timeouts and in between quarters we are always just so positive. Our coach is always there and is making us do everything better. When our team is together as one we always play better. I think that in the first half we were not as together as we normally are.”
Six grade 12’s played their final game on home court, a fact not lost on the younger Kennedy, whose older sister Jane was among them.
“I think it is really important because everyone wants to win their last go around, no one wants to go out with a loss. Everyone wants to remember the big win in the end and that is what we want to do,” said Kennedy.
The weekend results pushed the Ardens record to 22-5 with two games remaining in their season.
The Ardens will open Hoopla against Prince Albert St. Mary in the provincial semi-final on Friday.
In the other semi-final top ranked Prince Albert Carleton will face North Battleford Comp.
With only four 4A teams remaining the Ardens will be facing a pair of quality opponents this weekend.
“It goes back to defense again and that again is what we focus on first. I think that we are going to have to shoot the ball better next weekend than we did today obviously. I think that we have girls that are very determined and they want another shot here. We have put ourselves in a position to get to Hoopla and now we will take it one game at a time and see what happens,” said Siemens.
We actually probably expected it to be a lot easier - Ardens forward Jill Kennedy
The second ranked Ardens have won both head to head meetings against the third ranked Marauders this season, one game was close, while the most recent match-up was a bit of a blowout.
“I think that when we get there, there is enough motivation there and they know what is at stake that we are not going to take anybody for granted. Maybe today was a reminder of that, as difficult as it is to focus one game at a time they might have been looking at the seeding and thinking that this was going to be easier than it actually was. Maybe we learned something today and maybe we can carry that forward into next weekend,” said Siemens when asked if the Ardens may take their semi-final opponent lightly.
Experience in the often chaotic atmosphere at Hoopla should be on the Ardens side hopes Siemens and the Ardens.
“I think that is something that we do have an advantage over some of the other teams is the amount of experience that we have acquired over the last four years at Hoopla. So hopefully that is going to be to our advantage and the girls will know what to expect.”
Expectations are obviously high for the defending provincial champions.
“I think we will defend it just by playing Ardens basketball and no one else’s. We will play our game and do our best like we always do,” said Kennedy.
“We just want to play our best basketball,” added Siemens. “We have had a great season, we have quality kids on this team, and that is all I ask from them is that they play as hard as they can, play to the best of their ability, if that ends up being a gold medal then fantastic. If not then I am still going to be very proud of them and they should be very proud of themselves.”
