Local roundup: U of R basketball, volleyball, U18 hockey and more
Highlights from the week that was for local teams and athletes
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U of R basketball
The University of Regina men’s and women’s basketball teams swept all four games of their homestands Friday and Saturday.
After winning eight straight road games — a men’s team record — to start their Canada West season before losing twice, the Cougars got 28 points from Matt Barnard to beat visiting Northern British Columbia 74-65 on Saturday. The Cougars won 77-54 on Friday, after cold weather travel problems kept the Prince George-based visitors from arriving in Regina until 5 a.m. on game day.
Nick Barnard added 13 points on Saturday as the Cougars (10-2) outscored UNBC 16-8 in the fourth quarter. Lodi Kenyi, with 16 points, and Jalen Edwards, with 12, led the Cougars on Friday.
“(UNBC) is a playoff team, a good team, and it’s tough to beat anybody twice in this league,” said Cougars head coach Steve Burrows.
“None of them are easy. Sometimes you win by 20 points the first night and our guys have heard me so many times, the next night’s going to be harder. Maybe some complacency sets in, maybe there’s some of that, but they’re a good team and our guys really had to battle in the fourth quarter.”
With 21 points from Jade Belmore, the women’s team defeated UNBC 73-51 on Saturday after an 80-56 victory on Friday. Kianna Wiens led the Cougars with 17 points in the opener.
“This has been a frustrating year because we’re so up and down,” said women’s head coach Dave Taylor, whose team is 6-6 in Canada West competition. “Talent-wise, on any given day we can beat anybody in the country.
“We just put ourselves in a tough position in terms of where we’re going to be for playoff seedings, so our road’s going to get a little bit harder. But we’re also that team nobody wants to play in the playoffs.”
The teams will now get set to host Mount Royal this weekend.
U of R volleyball
After losing 3-0 to the Brandon Bobcats on Friday night, the Cougars women’s volleyball team picked up their first win of the Canada West season on Saturday as the defeated Brandon 3-2 after winning 18-16 in the fifth set.
Bailey Balaberda led the way with 16 kills for the Cougars while Reese Evjen had 15 and Devyn Grimsrud had 13. Balaberda also had 16 digs while Evjen chipped in with 12.
Regina (1-15) will now visit the Saskatchewan Huskies this weekend.
U18 women’s hockey
At the IIHF World Women’s under-18 championship in Switzerland, Canada is coming home with the bronze medal after beating Finland 8-1 in the third-place game.
Prince Albert product and Regina Rebels forward Stryker Zablocki had two goals and five assists for seven points in six games throughout the tournament.
Regina Rebels
Without Zablocki, the Regina Rebels continued their strong season in the Saskatchewan Female AAA Hockey League.
On the weekend, the Rebels beat the Battlefords Sharks 2-0 and 3-0 to improve to a league-best 17-3-0. Hannah Tresek earned back-to-back shutouts while Makayla Peters (two), Addison Greve, Emily Karpan and Avery Gottselig scored goals for Regina, who are back in action Wednesday in Swift Current.
Regina Pat Canadians
After beating Moose Jaw on 5-1 last Tuesday, the Regina Pat Canadians fell 4-2 to the visiting Saskatoon Contacts on Saturday night in Saskatchewan Male AAA Hockey League action.
Steven Steranka and Jaxon Skiftun scored for Regina, while Jaidyn Shaw made 24 saves in the loss for the Pat Canadians (20-9-1), who are back in action on Tuesday when they host the Warman Wildcats at 8 p.m.
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