News
Sports
Weather
Classifieds
Opinions
Obituaries
Special Reports

Home
About Us
FAQ
Links
Advertising

Carstairs Courier
Didsbury Review
Innisfail Province
Mountain View Gazette
Olds Albertan
Sundre Round Up

Commercial Printing
Great West Newspapers

An up and down regular season won’t matter one bit to the Olds Koinonia Royals if they are able to repeat as South Central Zone 1A boys basketball champions this weekend in Drumheller.

After a year that’s seen the Royals struggle with their fair share of injury, illness and absence, the team is fully focused on retaining their zone title, but the team’s head coach acknowledges that it won’t be as simple as showing up and receiving a banner.

"I like our chances going in but we’ll have to play really good basketball," explained Lance Duncalfe. "We’ve had our ups and downs all year … and now it’s started coming together."

He’s buoyed by the fact that they thumped Spruce View School last week in the Chinook’s Edge challenge game for 1A schools in the division. As well, they played very well in the annual alumni game against some of the best players the school has produced.

Leading the charge this weekend will be the Grade 12 backcourt of Joel Brown and Eric Fahlman. Not only are they in charge of taking care of the basketball but have a role to play in providing offence.

"Both of them are three-point threats and can really shoot the basketball," said Duncalfe.

Other players who’ve been solid contributors include guard Thomas Archer, and the frontcourt trio of Dwight Schulz, Kevin Smith and Mitch Parrott, all of who bring something different to the court.

While last year’s version of the Royals featured the individual talents of Chris Schulz, Phil Ziegler and David Rempel, each who could carry the team when a boost was needed, this year’s group relies more on a team game, according to Duncalfe.

"Guys from that team might argue it, but in some ways we may have a better team this year," he said. "One thing we have is we’ve got a real deep bench."

For the first time in recent memory, the senior high team features all Grade 11 and 12 players with a junior varsity team featuring most of the Grade 10s.

"That’s kind of a first for us, being a small school," Duncalfe suggested.

The road to the zone championship begins with a tough test immediately for the Royals on Friday afternoon when they face long-time nemesis Youngstown, the team they beat in the final last year. If they are successful in their opening match they’ll face the winner of league foe Cremona and Holy Cross Collegiate of Strathmore in the semi-final.

On the other side of the draw, the host St. Anthony’s squad is one of the favourites to emerge from the weekend and secure the zone berth in provincials, set for the following weekend in Vermilion. Considering the Royals and the Drumheller school are the only ones from the zone mentioned in the Alberta Schools Athletics Association rankings as honourable mentions for the 1A boys, the likelihood the zone will be awarded a wildcard entry into provincials is remote.

To ensure the team is sharp for zones, there are plans to arrange another exhibition game for this week, according to Duncalfe.

Royal girls look for zone shot
The OKCS senior girls squad will be looking to qualify for the South Central 1A girls zone championship this weekend in Rosemary with a play-off game at home tonight against Holy Cross Collegiate of Strathmore.

With the Royals having not played a competitive game for two weeks while the visitors played on the weekend, the team’s coaches are expecting a tough challenge. The winner of the game qualifies directly for the zone tournament. Game time is 5:30 p.m. at the OKCS gymnasium.