Lightning 105 Raiders 72

For the second game in a row it took the Hunting Hills Lightning some time to find their rhythm, but once they did it was an easy road to the provincial 4A high school boys’ basketball championship.

The Lightning used a solid second half to run away with a 105-72 victory to sweep the best-of-three Central Alberta zone final from the Lindsay Thurber Raiders at Hunting Hills Friday.

“Much like the first game (a 78-57 victory) we got caught up in playing their style of basketball in the first half and allowed them to stay with us,” said Lightning head coach Stephen Pottage, whose squad led 48-42 at the half.

“But then they also came out strong. They had nothing to lose. However, we had a little talk at the half and started playing our game and outscored them by 20 in the third quarter and that was it.”

The Raiders didn’t have the depth of the Lightning either.

“We have four or five studs and they have a couple,” added Pottage.

“The bottom line is they were the better team,” said Raiders head coach Dwayne Lalor. “They played very well and with a lot of intensity and we simply couldn’t match it. It would have been nice, but they were on a mission and battled hard.

“They should be the team that’s going to provincials and if they play that well they have a chance to win a couple of games.”

Jared Ruston led the Lightning with 26 points while Travis Czainski added 22 and Chris Karambamuchero 20. But it was point guard Pedro Porto Alegre that drew Pottage’s praise.

“He was the best player on the court,” he said. “He controlled play and settled us down in the second half.”

Ryan Clark led the Raiders with 29 points while Brady Bowd added 20.

Lightning 72 Raiders 57

The Lightning weren’t about to go away quietly on the girls’ side as they jumped into a 22-9 lead and went on to beat the Raiders 72-57 to even the best-of-three series and set up a third game tonight at 6 p.m. at LTCHS.

“We were like a different team from the one that showed up Wednesday (a 59-51 loss),” said Lightning head coach Jill Potts. “My seniors came to play, which made a big difference.”

The Lightning led 52-26 at one point in the third quarter before the Raiders made a run and cut the gap to eight early in the fourth quarter.

“We went away from moving the ball, which meant our offence was stagnant and our defence started playing tired,” said Potts. “And defence was a key to our success as it fueled our offence in the first half.”

The Raiders got an outstanding effort from Grade 11 forward Telaina Snider in their rally as she was close to unstoppable. However, the Raiders tired and the Lightning, behind outstanding point guard Amanda Stonehouse, regained their offensive flow.

“The girls did a great job of coming back, but we didn’t have everyone playing their best tonight and the girls that were played too long and were running out of gas,” said Raiders head coach Kathy Lalor. “Once we made a few changes the momentum swung back in their favour.”

Lalor also gave Stonehouse a lot of credit.

“We have to be able to change her game more than we did tonight,” she said. “We did a better job Wednesday.”

Potts agreed that Stonehouse, who finished with 25 points, was the key player in the win.

“She was the difference tonight,” she said. “She was amazing considering the amount of pressure they put on her. We do have to figure a way to help her out.”

The game was also a physical affair and the Raiders received a blow when point guard Keitlyn Williams suffered a shoulder injury.

“That hurt for sure, but we knew it would be a battle,” said Lalor. “They played a very physical game and we got bounced around a bit.”

Sara Codd added 18 points, Ainsley Wright 16 and Lexi Kambeitz 11 for the Lightning while Snider had 16 and Christie Hackenbrook nine for the Raiders.

drode@reddeeradvocate.com