NEWS PHOTO SEAN ROONEY - Medicine Hat College's Morgan Muir (right) fights for a loose ball with SAIT's Skyler MacDonald during a women's basketball game at the Snake Pit Friday.
Knowing complacency is their enemy down the stretch, the Medicine Hat College women’s basketball team took it to the SAIT Trojans Friday on home court.
The Rattlers earned a 77-51 win in front of a couple hundred fans, improving to 16-3 on a night where all four playoff spots from their division were spoken for.
�It was good, we battled hard and if you look at the stats, SAIT defensively allows the same points we do,� said Rattlers coach Clayton Nielsen. “Defensively I think scoring (77) on them was good, it showed we had some good aggression and good ball movement, which is what we’re trying to work on.�
Kendell Kuntz had 17 points, Morgan Muir and Kiana Mintz each had 12 with Muir adding seven steals and Mintz nine rebounds to lead the way.
Hope Lewis’ 14 points were tops for the Trojans, who fell to 5-14 and are already eliminated from playoff contention.
Medicine Hat is still in a battle for positioning, as second-place Olds (14-4) could still catch them for first with one weekend left in the regular season.
The Rattlers used their full-court press to great effect in the third quarter, outscoring SAIT 24-8. Nielsen’s only quibble was letting up 19 points in the first quarter, though his team did have a two-point lead even then.
�We’ve got to minimize what they get for looks and I think we’ll be good,� he said.
The teams rematch Saturday in Calgary. Medicine Hat winds up with a home game next Friday against St. Mary’s.
Men’s basketball
Facing the third-ranked team in the country, Medicine Hat’s men’s basketball team put up a good showing but ultimately fell 106-99 to the Trojans.
SAIT, now 18-1, will enter playoffs as the top seed while Medicine Hat, 12-7, is second in the South but still needs one more win (or a loss by Lethbridge or Red Deer) to clinch a post-season berth.
Ian Tevis led the Trojans with 29 points, while Kieron Burgess had 31 plus 18 rebounds for Medicine Hat.
The teams play in Calgary Saturday night.
Women’s volleyball
The Rattlers women’s volleyball team sure made the last weekend of their regular season interesting, but ultimately were unable to keep their playoff hopes alive to the final day.
At Calgary, Medicine Hat lost 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-21) to the team they were trying to catch for a post-season spot, the SAIT Trojans.
Saturday’s 6 p.m. game at the Snake Pit will be the last of the season for the Rattlers, now 11-12 and fifth in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference South Division.
SAIT, now 14-9, could yet finish as high as third.
No statistics were available from the match.
Men’s volleyball
The men’s volleyball team lost 3-1 (25-19, 33-31, 23-25, 25-19 at SAIT, falling to 12-11 and barely hanging on to a playoff spot.
The teams rematch Saturday in Medicine Hat. SAIT clinched a playoff berth and is now 14-9.
