The Cochrane Cobras varsity girlsí basketball team faced injury trouble and disappointing losses all season.
But the squad rallied when it mattered most and defeated the George McDougall Mustangs, at the Mustang Corral in Airdrie, 56-50 in the Rocky View Sports Associationís (RVSA) divisional gold medal game on March 3.
ìYou expect close games in championships games,î said Cobrasí coach Randy Peron.
George Macís Kylie Lebedeff had a game-high 32 points and led a valiant fourth quarter comeback, but the Mustangs failed to seize the championship on its home court.
ìTheyíre really sad,î Mustangsí head coach Joe McLaughlin said of his team. ìThey fought so hard to come back from a 15-point deficit to tie the game with two minutes left. We thought we had all the momentum, and then to have it taken away was a tough one at home ñ with the entire crowd behind us. Cochrane just shot the ball better than us today.î
Cochrane, which beat Springbank in its semifinal (George Mac beat Bert Church in the other semi), opened a 16-12 first-quarter lead in the gold medal game.
Mustangsí guard Amanda Kerr hit a three-pointer 90 seconds into the second quarter to cut the lead, but George Mac went scoreless for the next six minutes. Cobrasí guard Katrina Bervoc hit two three-pointers in the final three minutes of the half to put Cochrane ahead 30-23 at the break.
ìWe depend on our outside shooting a lot,î McLaughlin said. ìThey just werenít dropping tonight. We shot 18 for 95 in the game ñ you donít win too many games shooting the ball like that.î
George Mac outscored Cochrane 12-11 in the third quarter and continued its comeback in the fourth when Lebedeff hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 49 with 3:40 remaining.
But Bailey Sethyenko responded with a three-pointer with 1:10 remaining to ice the game for the Cobras. McLaughlin said playing from behind the entire game was taxing on his players.
ìItís so hard, as it takes so much energy,î he said. ìThatís part of the reason you miss so many shots. Youíre so burnt out from hustling on defence. We put in a new defence for Cochrane and some of the girls were lost early on where they should be. Once they tightened it up, we came back.î
ìWe showed a lot of determination and we got through some dry spells when they hit some three point shots,î Peron said. ìWe knew they would have a push back, but we stopped them when we had to. Itís always an electric atmosphere, but we kind of got the crowd quiet by taking the lead early and maintaining our point spread. We didnít really hear the crowd until the fourth quarter.î
Cochrane moved on to the 3A Zones tournament in Olds from March 8 to 10, after the Rocky View Weekly went to press.
