Rattlers advance, Ooks head home
The Second consolation game of the day saw the Host Medicine Hat College Rattlers face off with the NAIT Ooks. Both teams hoping to extend their championship for another day. The Scoring got started with the Rattlers scoring a single point at the line. They got back to the line right away hitting one for two and making the lead 2-0. The Rattlers had come up with 3 straight stops, forcing 2 Ooks turnovers in the process as they took over again. Medicine Hat added 3 more on an and one from Morgan Muir opening up a 5-0 lead. the Ooks put their first points on the board on a deep 3 quickly cutting the lead to 2. NAIT took the lead on second 3 from Sydney Hurlburt. Missing a pair at the line the Rattlers missed a chance to tie and take the lead. NAIT got to the line on the other end quickly but missed both as well keep the score 6-5. NAIT was first to break the 2 minute scoring drought putting up 2 more, the Rattlers were able to hit a deep 3 of their own tying it at 8. Wasting no time NAIT quickly hit a 3 of their own and again took a 3 point lead. Medicine Hat answered with 2 more but still trailed by 1 with 3 minutes left in the quarter. The Rattlers got into Bonus with 3 minutes and got to the line on a floor call tying the game at 11. NAIT quickly scored 2 baskets to re-open the 4 point lead before heading to the line to shoot 2 more hitting both. The Rattlers offence had once again gone cold until Muir hit 2 free throws to get their first points in a while. The Ooks scored again in the last minute going back up 6. Medicine Hat got the line again going 1 for 2 and reducing the deficit to 5 where the quarter ended, 19-14 Ooks ahead.
The Second quarter opened with a turnover on both ends of the floor. The opening minute flew by with neither team scoring. The Rattlers opened 1:12 in with a quick inside layup from Abygail LaRochelle. Again the scoring stalled as the high pressure defenses from both sides were working well. At 6:30 on the clock the score remained 19-16 Ooks as neither team could score. Finally at 6:00 on the clock the Ooks broke through to score 2. The Rattlers responded quickly with a 3 on their next possession cutting the NAIT lead to 2. Muir hit another 3 for the Rattlers to take a 22-21 lead right as the time moved past the midway point. The Rattlers hit another 2 and came up with a quick steal. They quickly earned a trip to the line but could only hit 1 and take a 4 point lead. the Rattlers defense continued to come up with steals but could not take advantage on the scoreboard. With the clock inside 2 minutes left, the teams continued to trade misses and stops as the score remained the same. The Rattlers added a final basket late and went up 27-21 heading to the locker room
The second half got started with the Ooks scoring a quick basket on their first possession. The Rattlers answered right back but NAIT again came down to score a quick basket. The Rattlers led 29-25 and earned a quick trip to the line. Tatiana Dutka hit both and extended the Rattler lead to 6. Medicine Hat caused a turnover from NAIT with pressure but could not convert. The Ooks used this to their advantage scoring quickly again and again cutting the lead to 4. NAIT again scored and reduced the Medicine Hat lead to 2. The Rattlers finally answered again with 2 inside from LaRochelle but points continued to be at a premium with neither team converting on a high percentage of chances. With half the quarter gone, Medicine Hat remained up by a small margin 35-29. The Ooks cut this in half with a 3 and the game was only one possession again. The Ooks hit a short jumper off a Rattler miss and the score was within 1, 35-34. The Rattlers earned a trip to the charity stripe hitting both and re- establishing the 3 point lead. Rattler Rhiannon Ware scored 2 quick back to back buckets and caused a clock violation to get the ball right back. Down 34-41, the Ooks took their first timeout with 1:55 left in the quarter. Medicine Hat scored again late to go up 43-34, where the quarter ended.
The 4th quarter started with the Ooks getting a quick trip to the line hitting one of two. The Rattlers came back and put in 2 getting to the line as well for the and one. This forced the Ooks to take a timeout down 10, 45-35. Hitting the bonus point, the Rattlers went up 11, but the Ooks earned their own trip to the line hitting both. On the Next trip down the floor Rattler Morgan Muir hit a 3 and was fouled completing the 4 point play. NAIT responded with a quick basket of their own but could not make any ground in the early part of the frame. Medicine Hat continued to come up with steals as they started to use the shot clock more and more. 6:30 on the clock with the Rattlers up 52-39, the Ooks looked to Sydney Hurlburt who hit a 3. Allison Hunder of NAIT stole the corresponding inbound and scored quick reducing the Rattler lead to 8, 52-44. The Rattlers called a timeout and came out of the break to re-establish their 10 point lead. The clock passed the midway point and the Ooks still trailed by 10 and looked to press hard in the offensive end. The Rattlers earned a trip to the line and hit a single to go back up 11. NAIT came hard down the floor but turned it over on a travel on a poor stop with the ball. The Ooks entered bonus with 3:30 on the clock and went to the line making one. The Rattlers still held their 10 point lead with just under 3 on the clock. NAIT went back to the line but missed both keeping the score as it was. NAIT again went back to the line on a foul in their back court, the Ooks hit one again and cut the lead to 9. Medicine Hat earned their own trip to the line but hit both and again went up 11. They extended again going up 60-46 with 1:34 on the clock. The Ooks took their final timeout here, hoping to come up with a last ditch effort to cut the lead down in the final 94 seconds. They Started good earning a trip to the line and hitting both before the Rattlers took a quick timeout. NAIT tried a deep 3 missing and the Rattlers looked to burn as much clock as possible. The Ooks intentionally fouled and sent the Rattlers to the line. Medicine Hat hit one came up with the offensive board and nailed a 3. The Ooks matched with a 3 of their own, but with 30 seconds on the clock the Rattlers went back to the line and hit both going up 66-51. The game ended with the same score and the Rattlers advancing to play again the next day.
The ACAC Players of the game were Sydney Hurlburt for NAIT and Paige Cooper for MHC