On the heels of the best regular season they’ve ever had, the Medicine Hat College Rattlers women’s basketball team enters playoffs tonight in Fort McMurray as something they’ve never been before.
Favourites.
The 18-3 team that went to nationals last year came back with a deeper bench, more veteran firepower and, perhaps most importantly, a healthier group that hopes it has what it takes to get back.
Medicine Hat opens the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference finals tonight with a 6 p.m. matchup against Augustana, which went 15-9 and lost its last four before squeaking in to the post-season.
Even with conference all-time rebounding queen and player of the year Kennedy Werre last year, injuries hampered Medicine Hat’s post-season run. Kendell Kuntz couldn’t play in conference finals at all. Morgan Muir went down with an injury during the finals. They still got to the gold medal game which earned a spot at Canadians.
Kuntz’s battered knees were no sure thing, but have held up for her fifth and final campaign in which she finished second all-time in ACAC for career three-pointers made.
Muir’s decision to come back from Australia – she had previously indicated she’d go home for good after coming to the Gas City as a high school student – was arguably the point at which everyone around the team knew they had a chance to do something special. Muir set a new team mark for steals in a season.
Both Kuntz and Muir were named to the ACAC’s all-conference team Thursday night.
The Rattlers only need to get to the final to earn a second straight trip to nationals, which are in Quebec this year. But after the season they’ve had, a banner is on their radar too.
Men’s basketball
As for the Rattlers men, they look nothing like last year’s team. Jaamel Slack, back after staying home last season, said he recognized only a few of his new teammates in September.
With three players kicked off the team – one last semester and two this semester – new faces have emerged. Kieron Burgess, who a year earlier left the team due to criminal charges and pled guilty to assault involving an airsoft rifle, returned in January and has dominated, averaging 24 points and 18 rebounds.
Slack was named a second team ACAC all-conference player, Brazilian Arthur Rosa was named South Rookie of the Year Thursday and the improbable Rattlers arrive at conference finals in Lloydminster as an intriguing wild card.
At 13-8 they’re seeded sixth out of eight teams. They face 17-7 Keyano at 8 p.m. but their changing lineup suggests they’re still getting better as the season has drawn to a close.
Are they good enough to make it to Sunday’s final and earn a spot at nationals in Vancouver? One thing they haven’t lacked all season is confidence. The adversity they’ve faced hasn’t kept it down one bit.
