Peighton Melton tip-off. (RDP Athletics)

By RDP Athletics

Moving On To Bronze Semis

Queens bounce host Mohawk College Mountaineers out of medal contention

Mar 17, 2023 | 10:04 AM

The Red Deer Polytechnic Queens were able to bounce back with a win against the host Mohawk College Mountaineers on Thursday after suffering a tough loss Wednesday night at the David Braley Athletic & Recreation Centre in Hamilton, ON.

It was a much better start for the Queens on Thursday afternoon as they found themselves in the lead to start the match. But this lead was diminished with a three-pointer from the Mountaineers.

Following this play, guard Sandra Garcia-Bernal (Educational Assistant) sprinted down the court and drained a layup. She would draw a foul on the play and capitalize on the one foul shot to make it a three-point play.

The Polytechnic was able to double up on Mohawk College with two minutes left to play but the Mountaineers would go on a run which led to a late timeout called by Head Coach Avery Harrison with less than a minute to play in the opening quarter.

The host team would hit three straight long-range shots which included a buzzer beater to conclude the quarter. The Queens found themselves up by just one point as they went into the second quarter with their largest lead being nine.

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The second quarter is where the Queens would shift into a higher gear as they found themselves up by 12 after guard Heena Sidhu (Bachelor of Arts in Political Sciences) drained a three pointer from the corner.

Guard Heena Sidhu (Bachelor of Arts in Political Sciences). (RDP Athletics)

But once again the Mountaineers battled back and diminished Red Deer’s lead before the quarter would end as they outscored the Queens 4-1 in the final minute of play in the half.

The Queens would take a 46-37 lead into the second half. Sidhu led her squad with 12 points in the opening 20 minutes.

It was all Mountaineers to start the third. Something must have sparked them in the break as they held the Queens off the scoreboard for two straight minutes while they scored five points. The game remained quite tight with it being back and forth between the two teams as they would exchange points with one another.

The Mountaineers would outscore the Queens 20-12 in the third quarter as they found themselves within one point yet again as they head off into the final quarter of this bronze quarterfinal. This was the closest Mohawk College would get to tying it.

But Coach Harrison got his team back into a groove in the break as they went on a six-point scoring run to begin the fourth quarter while holding the Mountaineers scoreless for three minutes but back-to-back threes by the hosts which put them back within a point of Red Deer.

Sidhu would hit another three-pointer off a defensive rebound from Garcia-Bernal to put her team back up by a few points. The Queens would finally pull away from the Mountaineers in the final minutes and defeat Mohawk College 80-70.

The player of the game was awarded to guard Sandra Garcia-Bernal who once again put in a 110 per cent effort and was one of the hardest working Queens on the court like she always is night in and night out even if she only played 19 minutes. Garcia-Bernal finished with 11 points, four rebounds and four steals.

Guard Sandra-Garcia Bernal (Educational Assistant) was named the player of the game with 11 points, four steals, and four assists in 19 minutes played. (RDP Athletics)

Guard Sophie Melin (Bachelor of Arts in Psychology) led her team in points for the second night in a row as she finished with 17.

The Queens will move on to the bronze semi-final at 4 pm MST on Friday and will take on the Humber Hawks, who lost 75-62 to the Geants de Saint-Jean in the gold medal semi-final following the end of the Queens match.