Airdrie’s senior high school basketball teams competing in the Rocky View Sports Association (RVSA) concluded their 2018-19 seasons Feb. 28, with none of the teams qualifying for the championship games. On the boys’ side, the Bert Church Chargers fell two hurdles short of repeating last year’s RVSA-championship-winning feat by losing in the semi-finals. The Chargers fell 78-56 to the Cochrane Cobras Feb. 28. “Cochrane is a good team. They’re very strong, physical and skilled,” said Chargers head coach Mike Sera. “We stuck with them and gave them a run for two thirds of the game, and then got into some foul trouble, because of their size.” According to Sera, Bert Church’s chances against the Cobras weren’t helped by the early exit of the Chargers’ post – David Moody, the team’s tallest player – to injury. “He took an elbow and split his lip,” Sera said. “He played three or four minutes and then had to go for stitches. Because they’re such a big team, without our big player out there, that makes us a very small team.” Bert Church had qualified for the RVSA playoffs in the division’s third seed, after finishing the season with a 3-2 regular-season record. The team’s losses came against the Chestermere Lakers and the Cobras. The Chargers’ first playoff game was a 79-59 win over the George McDougall Mustangs, Feb. 26. While Bert Church did not get the chance to compete for gold on its home court March 2, Sera said the senior boys’ 2018-19 season will continue for at least one more weekend, when the team competes at home March 8 and 9 at the 3A South Central Zones tournament. “We’re going in as the third-ranked team – Cochrane goes in ranked two,” he said. “We have to make some adjustments, obviously. We have a few injuries we have to work around, so we’ll see what happens.” On the senior girls’ side, W.H. Croxford was Airdrie’s top performer in the RVSA playoffs, going out 54-37 in the semi-finals to the Cobras – the eventual RVSA champions. The Cavaliers’ first game of the playoffs was a 56-33 win at home against the George McDougall Mustangs, Feb. 26. The Cavs had entered the RVSA post-season in the third seed, after closing out the regular season with a 4-2 record.
