Senior Queens of St. Augustine won the championship of the Girls Shine Tournament over the weekend with emphatic victories in all of their three games, thanks to an iron-clad determination, smart coaching and team solidarity.
The tournament, which opened with the local team hosting Breton High Friday afternoon, promised to be an exciting event from the very first game, in which the Queens overpowered their guests with a score of 50-32.
In their second game, the Queens did not waver in their determination and defeated Christ The King of Leduc 51-43.
This brought the Queens to the championship final against St. Joseph Saints of Whitecourt Saturday evening.
The game was almost a textbook example of how good defense wins games and championships.
St. A girls built up an almost impenetrable wall in front of their paint in the first period and allowed only one point to the opposition in the first 10 minutes, and that point came through a free throw. When the buzzer went off, the scoreboard was showing a lead of 12 points for the local side: 13-1 at the end of the first period.
In the second period, St A girls kept the good defensive posture, quickly getting into double-teaming formations and forcing the opponent to commit shot clock violations and turnovers. In the offense, in the meantime, their ball movement steadily improved and almost professional-level 3-point shooting by Jennifer Henderson helped the Queens carry their double-digit lead to the second half: 19-9.
With the confidence of their well-established position in the first half, the Queens continued to put pressure on the Saints of St. Joseph in third and fourth periods as well.
At the end of the 40 minutes, the Queens declared they were the masters of their gym.
This weekend St. A kings will be hosting the Boys Shine tournament at the school gym.