Womens Championship Season

Wolves: A Championship Season In Review

With the end of the school year, we now have time to look back at the Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves Women’s basketball team, who just completed arguably the best season in the history of the Wolves program. We’ll take a look at each of part of their golden season that eventually led them to their first ACAC Championship in 16 years and a chance to compete at CCAA Nationals in Niagara, Ontario.

Offseason

The Wolves were coming off one of their most disappointing seasons in recent history heading into the 2010/2011 season. The team had finished a mediocre 12-12 in the regular season and were eliminated in the first round of the ACAC playoffs for the third straight year. Six key veteran players were returning to the Wolves, including four of the team’s past starting five and all were determined to finish the year differently this time around. Also returning was Head Coach, Dave Waknuk, who had taken over the team midway through last season and was now entering his first full season as Head Coach, with his returning coaching staff of Bill Shaw and Lisa Deneault. Changes were made to the roster and several key recruits were added to the program, strengthening the talent level of this team. Quietly, expectations were high for this group but there was still plenty of work to be done.

Preseason

The Wolves high hopes quickly crashed down with a resounding thud, as the team got crushed in their first exhibition game 66-34 to last year’s ACAC Champs and the team that knocked the Wolves from the playoffs, the Sait Trojans. The Wolves were able to pick up two other wins at that tournament but left knowing they had plenty of work to do, if they wanted to compete at the elite level they desired. The team returned home with a new commitment to their extensive pre-season training program and worked even harder on the practice court, all in preparation for a long road ahead.

First Semester

The team opened the season on the road against a very scrappy Kings University Eagles team and little did the team know, this series would be reflective of many more moments to follow for the Wolves, as GPRC had to make two strong second half comebacks to get the tightly contested victories. The Wolves returned home and lost their home opener by twelve to the perennially strong, MacEwan Griffins. In what turned out to be an early season turning point, the squad responded the next day with an excellent effort to defeat the Griffins by eight. That win seemed to propel the Wolves, who then went on to play some of their best bball of the season against South Division contenders, Lethbridge, Mount Royal and Medicine Hat in the weeks to come. Despite a thrilling, near scare road game against the Augustana Vikings in which the Wolves won by a single point, GPRC finished the first half with only one loss and sat on top of the North at 9-1 and cracked the CCAA Top 15 ranking for the first time in school history.

Christmas Break

At this point, it was becoming obvious to those around the team that this was a special group with potential for greatness. The team travelled to the Seneca College Holiday tournament in Toronto, Ontario to compete with some of the top teams in Ontario and Quebec. This tournament was designed to give the Wolves some additional competition but given the Wolves successful first half, this tournament was also going to have impact on the CCAA National Rankings and provide the group with some extremely valuable ‘out of Conference’ experience. The Wolves defeated the Fanshawe Falcons in the first round and won a spectacular game against the #7 ranked Sheridan Bruins 58-55. GPRC lost the final to #4 Vanier College from Quebec in the final, however opened a lot of eyes with their play and great finish at the tournament. The trip also continued to build on the outstanding chemistry this team had, as the players got to do some sightseeing in Toronto, which included the CN Tower and a Raptors game. The trip was a great chance for the team to refocus and recharge with a new energy gained from their strong showing in the East.

Second Semester

The second half started with a measuring stick that would tell the Wolves if they were in fact for real and worthy of their new #5 National Ranking. The team would host the undefeated, defending champs, Sait Trojans. The Wolves stumbled out of the starting blocks and never recovered, as Sait won by ten. This loss hurt but the Wolves used it as their motivation for the rest of the semester and knew they would cross paths with the Trojans again, if they wanted an ACAC title. From there, the Wolves took off rolling on an eight game winning streak and finished undefeated on the road for the season. The squad would wrap up their regular season at home against the Concordia Thunder in a pivotal series that could see the Wolves finish anywhere from first to third in the division. The Wolves roared out of the gates and won the first game by thirteen, wrapping up a guarantee of home court advantage for the playoffs. However, the team crashed back to reality with their worst loss of the year the next day, losing to the Thunder by 27. This served as another reality check for the team, showing the Wolves just how difficult the Championship road was going to be. The Wolves finished tied with the MacEwan Griffins for the division’s best record at 17-3 but were seeded second due to the early season series split against the Griffins. GPRC regrouped and refocused as they entered the time of the year that they had looked forward to since last March – the playoffs.

First Round

One of the team’s goals all season long was home court advantage for the first round of the playoffs and they had achieved it, as they hosted the 10-8 Medicine Hat Rattlers from the South Division. However, the Wolves would have their hands full with a scrappy Rattlers team in Game 1, as GP trailed by two points at halftime. The team regrouped and exploded in the fourth, outscoring Med. Hat 29-10, on their way to the 24 point victory. The team carried that momentum into Game #2, as they led throughout and won 73-66, sweeping the series and heading back to the ACAC Final Four weekend for the first time since 2007.

Final Four

After all that happened for the Wolves in the past season and a half, it was only fitting that their opponent in the league semi-finals would be the 17-1 Sait Trojans, on the road in Calgary. This was the same team that had eliminated the Wolves the year before, embarrassed them in the preseason and remained as the only team in the league that the Wolves had not beaten during the year. The Wolves were ready this time around and had a solid start, leading by three points at the half. However, the Wolves were known for second half performances and came out on fire in the third, outscoring Sait 20-7, on their way to the 71-52 win, handing the Trojans their worst loss of the year. The Wolves had just played arguably their best game of the year and would now have a date with the #2 ranked, MacEwan Griffins, who were riding a 20 game win streak into the Final.

The ACAC Final was tightly contested throughout, and after a rough shooting start and foul trouble, the Wolves found themselves down eight points to the Griffins heading into the fourth and final quarter. The talented MacEwan team opened on a run and suddenly, the Wolves had to call a timeout with 8:30 remaining, finding themselves down sixteen points. However, just like they had been all season long, the Wolves remained calm and confident and started turning up the pressure on the defensive end. Suddenly, the shots that weren’t falling for GPRC earlier were going in and the Wolves were building and riding momentum. The Wolves still trailed by 12 with 5:30 left. However, slowly but surely, they chipped away at the lead, possession after possession and miraculously found themselves in a tied ball game with 1:15 remaining. Wolves forward, Katarina Fialova hit a three point shot at that moment to give the Wolves their first lead of the game and after a few more clutch plays, the GPRC Wolves had pulled off the improbable and won 63-59. For a team dubbed a ‘fourth quarter team’, this was the ultimate comeback rewarded with the ultimate prize – the ACAC Championship. This was the school’s first title in 16 years and just the third in GPRC history.

Nationals

The Wolves were now headed to CCAA Nationals held at beautiful Niagara College in Niagara, Ontario to play along the seven other best teams in the Country and represent Alberta. GPRC had their hands full with their first round opponent, Mount Saint Vincent University from the Atlantic Conference. A back and forth game throughout ended as GP made their patented late comeback, scoring the go-ahead basket with 45 seconds remaining to win 58-55. While the team was excited to advance, they were heading into the semi-finals with three of their starting five injured. The semi finals had the Wolves paired off with the Ontario Champion, Algonquin College. GPRC was again off to a slow start and again made a ferocious third quarter comeback to cut a 15 point deficit to a 3 point ball game in the fourth. However, this time with injuries and fatigue piling up, the team couldn’t come back all the way this time. A beat up Wolves squad lost their last game of the tournament to Saint Thomas University and finished 6th in the CCAA rankings. While perhaps not the finish they were hoping for, the Wolves had an amazing experience on the ‘big stage’ at Nationals and wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

Accolades

Many outstanding individual performances highlighted the Wolves season. Andria Carlyon led the entire CCAA, as well as the ACAC, in scoring, rebounding and double/doubles. Lenka Rohova also led the country in assists per game and received a GPRC Individual Academic Award for a 4.0 GPA. Wolves fifth year guard, Jaelle Buhler was named to ACAC All Conference Second Team, as well as receiving a CCAA Academic All-Canadian award. The entire team was honoured for their academic excellence, as they won the GPRC Team Academic Award, given to the Wolves team with the highest combined grade point average. This is the second consecutive year Women’s Basketball won this award.

Head Coach, Dave Waknuk was selected as the ACAC North Division Coach of the Year, after completing his first full season as Wolves Head Coach.

Carlyon led the way with awards, however. She was named CCAA Player of the Month for February and to the ACAC All-Conference First Team, named a CCAA All-Canadian and was named ACAC Player of the Year. Carlyon received the highest honour though, when she was selected as the CCAA Player of the Year. She was also named as a Second Team All-Star at CCAA Nationals.

Overview

When this team is looked back upon over the years to come, it will not only be remembered for what it accomplished but most importantly, for how it accomplished it. The Wolves carried themselves with class and composure, and ultimately had fun playing together. The team came together as one, forming a bond that no situation, circumstance or fourth quarter deficit could break. The team showed who they were repeatedly and who they were, was champions.