Th e St. Anthony’s Sabres senior boys basketball team won their fi rst ever senior high school banner, winning zones,and they did it at home.
Th e team set the goal at the beginning of the year to be the South Central 1A Zone Champions, and win a berth into the provincial tournament. Th ey succeeded on Saturday night, defeating Olds Koinonia Christian School 71 - 55.
“It’s gratifying because the team has worked hard to develop not only the skills needed to win, but the mindset and
attitude to be champions on and off the court,” said coach Gavin Makse. “Th e team should be proud because it
was a total team eff ort.”
Th e road to the championship began Friday morning as the Sabres took on Our Lady of the Snows from Canmore. All players saw court time as the Sabres cruised to a 119-47 win. Anthony Merkel had an incredible 42 points in the effort,
point guard Matt Russell had a season high 20 and averaged 16 on the tournament. Brandon Gruber had 18.
Th is put them in the semi fi nal against the Duchess Eagles. Th e Sabres have handled the Eagles twice this year. Despite this, the Eagles came out gunning for a win. By half time, the Sabres were firmly in control leading 45-25. They held on for an 84-65 win. Th is time Gruber was the team’s top scorer with 19, Merkel had 17 and Russell quietly
dropped in 15.
Th is put them in the final against the Olds Koinonia Christian School Royals, the tournament number two seed, a provincial honourable mention, and a team the Sabres had not yet played this season. Th e Sabres jumped out in front, and were leading by 10 going into the half. Mitch Barry picked off a pass on the inbound play, and Alex Cliche nailed the shot at the buzzer, putting the Sabres up 35-23.
Olds continued to stay with the Sabres through the second half and had cut the lead to as close as fi ve points. Th e Sabres were leading by seven points in the fourth quarter when Gruber buried a three pointer from the top of the key as the shot clock wound down to zero, putting the Sabres back up by 10 points. They did not let the Royals back into the
game as the Sabres won 71-55.
Gruber led the way with 17 points and owned the boards, not allowing the Royals any second chance points. Russell
and Cliche each had 14. Th e Sabres are now on the hunt for a strong showing at the provincial tournament this Thursday to Saturday at St. Jerome’s School in Vermilion. Coming out of zones, the Sabres were seeded #7 in the 12 team tournament and it appears they will face the #10 home team St. Jerome’s in the first round on Th ursday at 1 p.m.
“We are looking forward to doing our zone proud at provincials,” said Makse. “Our goal is to take the tournament one game at a time, play with intensity on defense and continue to work as a team to achieve success."
