The Gladmar Falcons senior girls basketball team came home with the silver medal from Hoopla, to cap off a highly successful basketball season, along with the sportsmanship banner from the provincial championships.
The senior girls participated in four tournaments this season, ending up with 12 wins and one loss as they headed into the conference playoffs.
Central Butte was the host for the conferences, with Herbert, Coronach, Central Butte and Gladmar playing.
The Falcons defeated Herbert in their first game with a score of 75-51, and in the final game they defeated Coronach 81-34 to win the conference medal.
Advancing to the regionals held at St. Brieux, the Gladmar girls were ranked sixth. They played Kinistino, who was ranked 11th, and defeated them 59-28.
They advanced to the final against the third-ranked St. Brieux team. The girls needed the win to advance, and after a fast-paced, intense, emotional game with the gym packed with spectators, it was a fight right up to the final buzzer. Gladmar was victorious, coming away with a 46-38 win, sending the Falcons to Hoopla for the second year in a row.
Hoopla was in Saskatoon this year, and “what a wonderful experience for all of us,” said coach Kim Culbert.
Their first game at provincials was against Langham, the only team to defeat them during the season. It was a very close game, but Gladmar pulled out the win by a score of 56-47.
The gold medal game pitted the Falcons against Middle Lake, who has won the provincial championship four out of the past five years.
“The girls worked really hard and put up quite a fight, but Middle Lake defeated us 75-50,” said Culbert, noting with a final record of 17 wins and two losses, they brought home the silver medal and the sportsmanship banner.
“What an amazing accomplishment for this group of ladies,” said Culbert, who noted a quote by NBA coach Phil Jackson was applicable to her girls: “Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the ME for the WE.”
