Sports | DrumhellerMail

Saints successful at home tourney

St. Anthony’s School was abuzz with basketball action last weekend as the junior Saints boys and girls hosted their annual tournament.
   In both cases the two St. Anthony’s teams ended up in three way ties for first place, forcing organizers to add up points against to determine the winners.
   The Saints girls started their tournament off playing their cross-town rivals DVSS. The Saints played hard and won 44-16 on Friday afternoon.
   In their next game they took on Stettler, and were able to go away with another hard fought victory, winning 41-31.
   For their final game in round robin action, they faced Trochu.
   Trochu came out strong wanting to win. The Saints did not have the same energy, and ended up losing 47-21.
   After round robin play, Stettler, Trochu and the Saints all had 2-1 records, tied for the best record. Officials went to points against to determine the winner, and this put Trochu on top, with Stettler in second and the Saints in third.
   Only 12 points separated the teams.
   ‘It was really that close,” said coach Gavin Makse.
   With less than a handful of games under their belt, Makse feels good about this team’s progress.
   “Last year we had a 1-3 record by this time, this year we are 3-1 so I’ll take that any day,” said Makse.
   He said in each game the team came out strong, but it was noticeable in their loss they didn’t have the same level of intensity, focus and effort as in their victories.
   “Trochu came out to win, they wanted it more than we did,” said Makse. “I told the girls we did a lot of good things on the weekend.”
   He adds the loss could be constructive as well showing the team areas that need focus.
   The Saints boys also had a strong tournament.
   They started out facing Delia, but lost in their first match.
   In their second game on Saturday morning, they faced Brownfield. The Saints were strong, but as the clock ticked down, the two teams were tied. With no time left on the clock Brownfield found themselves at the line shooting free throws. They were unsuccessful, forcing overtime. There, the Saints put together their first win of their tournament.
   They went on to finish off Stettler, and ending up in the same predicament as the girls. Three teams had matching records.
   The first tie-break was comparing head to head play and because Delia beat the Saints in round robin action, they were victorious.

Acme School senior girls capture zone title, provincial bound

Congratulations to the Acme Redmen Ladies Senior Volleyball team on winning the 1A Zone Banner in Rosemary on November 23. Acme was ranked first going into zones and worked hard to win first in their pool. They played a dominate semi final against Cremona. Which set them up to play against the home team Rosemary in the final. Acme won both sets 25-18. The girls are now leaving on Wednesday, November 27 to travel to Edmonton to represent the South Central Zone at the 50th Anniversary Provincial Volleyball Celebration to be played at the Saville Centre. The Team consists of Coach Laurie Neufeld, Maria Penner, Cianna Hambling, Anna Montgomery, Catherine Loewen, Sam Penner, Assistant James Thiessen, Abbie Neufeld, Natalie Gibbs, Destinee Campbell and Angela Lammle.

Tennis Club successful in CFEP application

The Drumheller Tennis Club received promising news this week that by next summer they will be on the court, a brand new court.
This week the club, which has been working hard to raise funds to build a multi- use court for tennis, pickle ball and basketball at DVSS, learned the Friends of DVSS Society received a Community Facilities Enhancement Program (CFEP) grant from the province for $40,000 to construct the court.

A schematic of the proposed multi-use courts at DVSS. The Drumheller Tennis Club was successful in securing a CFEP grant for construction of the courts and hope to break ground this spring.

    “We received the good news about the CFEP application and the courts seem possible for spring 2014,” said Jillian Augey, of the Drumheller Tennis Club.
   Early on, the club joined forces with the Friends of DVSS to work on the fundraising. They have received great support from the community with substantial donations from Cenovus, the Lions Club, the Kinsmen Club, the Rotary Club and Canalta. The Friends of DVSS also contributed $40,000 from its casino funds directly to the project.
   An anonymous donor also brought $21,000 to the table.
   “It is going to rehabilitate the parking area that used to be a basketball court. When we convert it back, it will be another place for activity for kids and the community of Drumheller to access,” said Suzette Lafreniere, president of the Friends of DVSS.
   She adds that it will also be a resource for the school to use.
   “It is truly a community project,” said Lafreniere.
   Augey also sees the potential.
   “The local tennis club hopes to start a league night as well as host fun tournaments and lessons for beginners. The pickle ball players in town are involved with the project and look forward to playing outdoors. And of course, the basketball court will be a great addition to the Riverside area,” said Augey. “There is so much potential to bring all age groups together through the use of this court.”
   While the funding is a needed boost, there is still a little more needed to put them over the top.
   They will need about $15,000 more to make the project a reality. Lafreniere said The Friends of DVSS has a motivated board ready to take on the project and are already looking for different ways to raise the funds so they can break ground in the spring.
   “We have been working hard for the last year and a half, it would be horrible for us to back down at this point,” said Lafreniere.
Those wishing to learn more or donate to the project can call 403-436-0031.

*Corrected December 3, 2013*

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