Richard Froese
South Peace News
The Peace River Glenmary Saints finished better that expected in the 2022 Alberta High School 2A Boys Basketball Championships.
Seeded No. 6, Glenmary placed fifth in the 10-team tournament March 17-19 at Bearspaw Christian School in Calgary.
The Saints defeated the Cold Lake Assumption Crusaders 71-63 in the consolation final.
Kurt Saluna drained 25 points, Seth Parker scored 19 and Kayne Myers added 18.
Head coach Jordan Loughlin was pleased with the Saints’ effort.
“It was a huge honour to be able to compete in the tournament, especially since there has not been a championship for the past two years,” Loughlin says.
“It was unbelievable to be ranked all season.”
Basketball provincials were cancelled in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic started and the 2020-21 season was sidelined by COVID.
On the losers’ side, the Saints beat the Wainwright Commandos 61-48 in the second round.
Laken Rein and Parker each scored 12 points.
Opening the tournament, Glenmary fell 79-51 to No. 3 ranked Calgary West Island College Wolves.
Saluna scored 21 points while Parker added 18.
“Unfortunately, we had a slow start, but battled back to within 10 [points] before running out of gas,” Loughlin says.
“It was a real wake-up call for us as we found out we could compete with the top teams in the province.”
Finishing fifth was the best result for Loughlin in three trips to the provincials with teh Saints.
He says it was a memorable season with eight players in their graduating year.
“It’s been an amazing journey with this group of young men,” Loughlin says.
“It has been a true honour to coach them and I learned a lot from them this year.”
He is optimistic about next season when Glenmary hosts the 2A provincial tournament.
“Looking to the future, it is bright as we will have five players returning,” Loughlin says.
“Although there is huge gap to fill with eight graduating players, there is a lot of potential coming up for the junior program.”
The junior boys team also won the Northwest zone championship and several players will move up into senior high next season, making the future very bright for the senior Saints.