Backboards were banging, and nets were swishing, for 5 out of 6 Foothills Varsity Basketball teams this weekend.

The Holy Trinity Academy Knights Boys, travelled north to Edmonton to play in the Father Troy Invitational, and showed great improvement in their team play, winning their first game handily over Archbishop Jordan of Sherwood Park.

In game 2 they faced the host St Joseph squad, in front of close to 1200 home fans, and pulled out an amazing 77-75 win at the buzzer.

A big emotional win that spring-boarded the Knights to the gold medal match versus a powerful Archbishop McDonald side from Edmonton.

The Knights Boys hung in there for the first half, in the gold medal match, trailing by 10, but McDonald were just too strong shooting, running, and rebounding, and defeated the Knights 83-58, to capture gold, while the Knights took silver.

In Calgary, the Foothills Comp Falcons Boys switched tournaments with the Highwood Mustangs, so the Falcons played at Notre Dame, and Highwood Mustangs replaced them at The Centennial Tournament, also in Calgary.

The Falcons lost their opener to Bishop O Byrne, and were therefore relegated to the consolation side of the draw.

In their 2nd game, The Falcons defeated Crescent Heights from Medicine Hat by 10 points, and were off to the consolation final against relative unknown, but highly regaurded, MCDI Mennonite from Manitoba.

In a wild and woolly, high scoring final, The Falcons played hard, but just couldn’t solve their Manitoba opponent, losing 105-92 and finishing the tournament in 5th place.

The Highwood Mustang Boys, at the Centennial Tournament, played spirited ball, using their new offense, but ran into some provincial team players, that dominated the post and the boards causing them to drop their first two contests.

Playing for 5th place overall in game three, the Mustang boys came up against Winston Knoll out of Regina, and shot out to a 15 point half time lead.

Regina would not quit, and got hot from three point range in the 4th quarter, and got to within one point, but the resilient Mustangs killed off the last few seconds with possession, and took a 75-74 victory, and finished 5th.

In Girls action, both the Foothills Falcons and the Holy Trinity Knights finished with 1-and-2 records in their respective tournaments.

The Falcons kicked things off at Centennial High in Calgary, dispatching of  E.P. Scarlett by a 56-51 score.

They struggled in their next 2 games, losing by lopsided scores to the host Centennial team in game two, followed by Cardston on game three, settling for 4th place overall.
 
The Knights Girls got off to a great start for head coach Ashley Herzog, by whipping Canmore by more than 30 points.

Injuries have plagued the Knights girls all year and this weekend was no exception.

Down to only six healthy players in games two and three, the Knights played their hearts out, but lost to LaCrete High from Northern Alberta by 20 points, and in the bronze medal game, they came up short to Willow Creek from Claresholm by eight points and finished in 4th. place.

Looking forward, the Foothills Falcons boys and girls visit Holy Trinity this Wednesday, with the girls tipping it off at 5:30, followed immediately by the Boys at 7:15PM.

Also on Wednesday, the Highwood Mustangs boys play Holy Cross in Strathmore, while the lady Mustangs battle Strathmore High, with both games starting at 5:30PM.

These are the last regular season games for Foothills teams with league playoffs commencing on February 27th, times and venues TBA.