Sports | DrumhellerMail

Titans plan Hawaiian trip

    Players from this year’s Titans football team will have an opportunity to hone their skills as they fly down to Honolulu, Hawaii August 18 to 24.
   There are 29 players and 16 parents confirmed to leave on the trip that will offer valuable experience to the tier-four team who hope to become third consecutive provincial champions next season.
   “With the growth of the organization and the growth of football in our community, we wanted to offer something that went above and beyond the typical football experience or at least what it has traditionally been in Drumheller,” said Titans’ offensive coach, Jason Rasmussen in a personal interview.
   He explained the trip will offer his players a rare level of competition that typically isn’t found in Canada, as well as an opportunity to increase overall morale and team bonding.
   “We’re going to come back from Hawaii and hit the ground running,” said Rasmussen who has high hopes for the upcoming season despite losing some of his key players to graduation this year.

Drumheller Titans offensive coach Jason Rasmussen stands beside a handful of the players that will be leaving for their football trip to Honolulu, Hawaii this August 18 to 24. (l-r) Jason Rasmussen, Brett McLean, Mitchell Ostergard, Aden Enns, Gage Berdahl and Joey Samoleski.

   The offensive line will ultimately be the determining factor of the team’s success next year as the majority of positions will need to be filled by new players.
   “If we get some guys who come ready to play and step-up and elevate their game, not to sound arrogant, but we expect to be the team to beat,” said Rasmussen.
   The trip will include several days of practice followed by a game against the St. Francis team from Honolulu.
   The team will also pay a visit to Pearl Harbor, attend a luau, and have some time to spend lounging at the beach during their time in Hawaii.
   Among the Titans players going on the trip is current Grade 11 student, Gage Berdahl who is excited for the upcoming excursion.
   Berdahl says he looks forward to playing the opposition and having the opportunity to visit Hawaii as a tourist.
   “It’s going to be a good trip,” said Berdahl.
   Several fundraisers will be held by the Titans and donations will be accepted to help raise money for their trip.
   The public is encouraged to assist in anyway they can for the fundraisers which will include a bottle drive, battery drive, raffle ticket sales, and the possibility of a drive-in movie night which is still under consideration.
   The cost of a player’s ticket will be subsidized according to how much fundraising is done by that individual player.
   “Fundraising is an ongoing challenge for a trip like this,” said Rasmussen.
   “We’d like the guys to pay as little as possible to go on the trip.”

Fourth place finish at zones ends Sabres’ season

    The St. Anthony’s Sabres Senior Boys basketball team ended its season at Zones placing fourth at the tournament.
   The Sabres had a strong season, culminating in a 1A provincial honourable mention and a middle seed in the zone tournament in Rosemary on March 9 and 10.
   The Sabres were short handed, with only seven players on the bench for the competition.
   The Sabres went up against Cremona in their opening game. Cremona was scrappy but the Sabres won decisively 69-59.
   This put them up against Rosemary. The Sabres were able to stay close to Rosemary most of the game and even broke their press, however foul trouble and their short bench caused havoc for the Sabres.
   “We ended up playing with four players for over 5 minutes of the 4th quarter, due to the short bench, but still kept scoring. After the game, the Rosemary coach said the players were actually worried because they didn’t have a sizable cushion of a lead, which has not happened all year against other 1A schools, and our defense was solid,” said coach Dan Patterson.
   Rosemary won 89-49.
   This put the Sabres into the third place game where they faced Acme. A few missed free throws made the difference as Acme went on to an 87-84 victory.
   The Sabres have potential to remain a tough team next season. While they are losing their top scorers, Tanner Borowicz and Brian Kosolofski, who led the team with effort and attitude, they still have a strong core returning next season.

The Sabres finished a strong season with a fourth place finish at zones. Members of the team include (back; l-r) coach Dan Patterson, Luis Pulvinar, Brian Kosolofski, Nathan Comstock, coach Emmanuel Doolittle, Travis Dietrich, Alvin Limosinero and Jesse Robinson, with (front; l-r) Jakub St. Jean and Tanner Borowicz.

Midget Raptors sweep league championship

    The Drumheller Minor Hockey Midget Raptors have added another banner to their season.
   After a busy weekend, the team was declared the Central Alberta Hockey League Midget Tier 3 champions. This is the second league championship for the team in a row.
   The Raptors were in a showdown for the title against Okotoks on March 16 and 17. In both games the Raptors came away with 4-1 victories.
   The first game was held in Drumheller and the Raptors wasted no time giving the home crowd a good show. By the end of the first, the Raptors were up 2-0 off of goals by Spencer Fournier and Ben Huculak. Justin Schinnour and Denver Hodge added two more in the third period.
   The two teams then headed to Okotoks for the second game. Spencer Fournier and Justin Schinnour racked up four goals by the middle of the second period. Okotoks managed to get on the board late in the third, but by then it was too late.
   The final game came down to penalties, with Okotoks being assessed ten over the course of the game.
   “They were running into penalty trouble throughout the game, so they didn’t really have a chance to get into things,” said assistant coach Nick Schinnour. “We reversed our penalties to almost zero and it definitely worked. The team playing together, bonding, and helping each other out was another big factor.”
   The Raptors march to the league championship began on February 22 against Olds. The Raptors swept the best of three series in two games, winning 5-2 and 6-3.

photo courtesy of Shallyn Schinnour

   In the second round, the Raptors were up against Cremona. On March 8, the Raptors won game one 3-1, but were defeated 4-3 the following afternoon.
   The third and deciding game was held on March 15.
   “We were pretty busy over the weekend. On Friday night, we were facing elimination, but we came out with a 5-0 win. Our stress level went down and we went to the final round the next day,” said Schinnour.
   The Raptors season is not over yet. This weekend, the team will be heading to Coaldale for the Midget C provincial championships.
   “I think they are a little nervous, but they were nervous about this past weekend and came out just fine. Once they get that first shift out of the way, they’ll be in great shape to pull out a few victories,” said Schinnour. “They’re a pretty close knit group, so hopefully we can continue that team mentality and come away with provincial gold.”

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