CANMORE – Fourteen seconds of intensity decided the handball provincial championship outcome, where the Our Lady of the Snows Avalanche’s late comeback buried some unhappy Cougars.
The local Grade 9 boys defeated the Sherwood Heights Cougars, 29-28, for the provincial title on May 4 in Edmonton after a penalty shot goal in the dying moments.
“We just wanted to win,” said Avalanche captain Corey Banks, who scored the game-winner. “We knew we played real hard and we trained real hard to win and I think what we did really well is we stayed calm and played defence against them.”
On the other end of the court, Avalanche goalie Ryan Hughes made a monster save after OLS’ penalty goal, where he got a hand on a desperation shot at the end of the game.
“It went through my mind, I was like, I really don’t want to let this in and mess it up for the whole team,” said Hughes. “I was just really hoping that they didn’t shoot and once they actually shot, I saw the ball and I just stuck my hand up and hoped that I touched it.”
On offence, Marc Sta Maria was a momentum changer for the Avalanche and scored big goals when the team was down, while Sam Armstrong’s height, length and aggression was invaluable on the court.
On D, Avalanche’s Harry Logan came up huge, shutting down scoring chances against his opponents.
The Avalanche trailed for most of the big game – down four at most – but in the final minutes, they counter punched a reeling Cougars club from Sherwood Park.
“We made one more big last push and we were able to come up and tie,” said Banks.
After Sherwood Heights took a bad penalty with 14 seconds remaining, it put big shot Banks on the free shot line and the sniper had a bull’s eye, throwing a bullet past the Cougars goalie.
Avalanche players went into a jubilated frenzy after Hughes’ big save on the opposite end to finish the game.
Over the past two seasons, the Avalanche’s core group won bronze and silver at the provincial handball tournament.
This year, they tasted gold for the first time.
There are not tiers in junior high school handball, so OLS, a school of about 150 students, was matched against schools three or four sizes larger in population.
“We came in as a small town team and won each game with determination,” said Janell Toews, OLS coach.
Avalanche teams also brought home two silvers at the Alberta Team Handball Federation provincial championships. The Grade 7/8 boys and 7/8 girls team both took second place at the tournament.
