Sports | DrumhellerMail

Raptors rack up big wins over weekend

    The Raptors were back in action last weekend. Some big wins ensured the various teams remained at or near the top of their respective divisions.
   This weekend was a tough one for the Bertram Drilling/Sports Room Midget Raptors, with their first two losses of the season. At the moment, the team is sitting in fourth of the Midget Tier 3 Division with 10 points.
   The losses were dealt by two Tier 1 teams.

Landon Brown, right, leads the charge during the Midget Raptors game against Olds on Sunday. The Raptors started off strong with a 3-1 lead until late in the second when Olds turned up the heat. The Midget Raptors are currently in fourth place with 10 points and only several points from first.

    On Saturday, they travelled to High River and lost to Foothills 10-3. The Raptors got out of the gate early with two goals by Reagan Burrows 25 seconds in and a second five minutes later. However, Foothills came back to dominate the remainder of the game.
   The following day, the Midget Raptors were at home, where they lost 6-3 to the Tier 1 team out of Olds. The Raptors held on to a 3-1 lead until late in the second, then Olds took off with the rest of the game.
   The Boston Pizza/Western Chev Bantam Raptors also had some crossover games with other tiers. On Saturday, they faced a Tier 2 team out of Rocky Mountain House, but were defeated 7-1.
   The next day, the Bantams were in Cochrane, where they lost 5-3. The two were tied 1-1 after the first, but Cochrane managed to rack up four goals by 11:46 into the second. Dillan Witt and Ewan MacFadden gave the Raptors two more goals, but the Raptors couldn’t catch up.
   The losses are their first of the season. The Bantam Raptors were moved up to the Bantam Tier 2 Division after spending the first part of the season playing in Tier 3.
   The NGC PeeWee Raptors, which have been playing in Tier 3, are continuing to dominate their division. Over the weekend, they edged out Brooks 4-3 and Medicine Hat 5-4 to keep top spot in their division. In Medicine Hat, Noah Salvatore ensured a Raptors win by scoring a hat-trick.
   The NGC Tier 6 PeeWee Raptors had a good weekend when they crushed Okotoks 9-1. The game was tied 1-1 after the first period, but the Raptors turned up the heat in the second and third. Ryan Fleming earned a hat-trick during the game and two assists.
   The Yavis Tier 4 Atom Raptors earned their first win of the season with a 5-4 effort over Strathmore. The Raptors got off to a 2-0 lead early in the game, but Strathmore came back to tie things up by the end of the period.
   Strathmore racked up two more goals early in the second and held a 4-2 lead into the third.
   The Raptors bounced back and scored two quick goals early in the third to tie the game again. They then got a lucky break when Strathmore was called for a body checking penalty. Kyle Gridley then scored on the powerplay to give the Raptors the win.
   The Encana Tier 6 Atom Raptors suffered a tough loss over the weekend against Kneehill, but remain tied for first place in their division.
   The Canalta Tier 3 Novice Raptors racked up their second win on Sunday. They dominated Strathmore 9-3. Colin Black faced a flurry of 28 shots on net by Strathmore, but held firm in the Raptors net. Grayden Ewing racked up three goals and assists in the game, while Emanuel Clark contributed four of the Raptors goals.
   The McDonalds Tier 6 Novice Raptors remain firmly on top of their division with a 10-2 win over Carstairs on Saturday. Kerric Chambers earned five points in the game, with two goals and three assists, while Connor Prieston-Johnston led in goals with five.

Morrin girls bring home gold

    The Morrin Junior High Girls Volleyball team have served up an exciting season this year. To cap it all off, they stepped off the court as two-time champions.
   Over the weekend, the team was in Olds to compete in the South Central Zone J championships. The team came out with gold medals.
   “It was great to see and we were really excited. I don’t think Morrin has won a volleyball banner in quite some time,” said coach Melanie Nelson.

The Morrin Junior High Girls Volleyball team had a banner season, winning both the South Central Zone J championship and their league championship. The team includes (Back, l-r) Cera Cawiezel, Mesha Olsen, Charlese Gridley, Lexi Cullum, Shebi Couturier, Kyra Gridley, Serena Michie, coach Melanie Nelson, (Front, l-r) Quinn Nelson, Taylore Davidson, and Kayla Adams. Assistant coach Jessica Wolf was missing from the photo.

    The Morrin girls were up against seven other teams and breezed through the round robin, winning all of their games. They then went on to defeat Trochu in the semi finals.
   They were then matched against the home team, Olds, for the championship.
   In the first game of the best of three series, the Morrin girls came away with a 25-18 win. However, Olds bounced back for the second game.
   “We thought we had won the set with a score of 25-23 but the Morrin girls were on the net. The score was then 24-24 and Olds scored another point making it 24-25 in their favour. Finally, we scored 3 points in a row to bring home gold 27-25,” said Nelson.
   The team was also crowned league champions, defeating Hanna on their own turf in the final game.
   Overall, the season was well played.
   “It’s been a good season and it’s done now. We started our season a little slow. We did very well in our league, but in the tournaments we placed third in Trochu and Delia. We won our own tournament,” said Nelson.
   Next year, the team will look different. Roughly half the players will graduate to the high school level. However, they will always be champions.

Saints junior high boys victorious on Championship Night

    The St. Anthony’s Junior High Boys volleyball team won its championship night and is looking forward to an even stronger next season.
   Greg Lemieux coached the team, and saw incredible progress throughout the season.
   They are a young team with many Grade 8 players and a few Grade 7 players on the squad.
   ‘We were building on some of the stuff we did last year. For the Grade 8 players, there was a lot of improvement, and for the Grade 7 players we worked on getting them used to our system,” said Lemieux.
   On November 4, the Saints played Morrin for their league championship and won.
   This was the perfect cap to a strong season, which included tournament play.
   In September, they were in Okotoks to play in the Christ the Redeemer School Division eight-team tournament and won third place.
On November 1, the Saints were in Bassano for a five-team tournament and came home with the gold medal.
   “We were missing quite a few of our players because they were on a band trip, so we brought up three grade 6 players,” said Lemieux. “They played phenomenally well, I was very impressed.”
   He is proud of how the team played and is looking forward to next season.
   “The players we had this year were just Grade 7 and 8s, so we are looking strong next year and want to keep building for the future,” said Lemieux.

The St. Anthony’s Saints junior boys volleyball team won first at tournament in Bassano, and then went on to close out the season winning Championship Night versus Morrin.

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