MEDICINE HAT, AB — They’ve made their 4-0 start to the year look easy.
They’ve also held a spot inside the CCAA’s national top-five rankings all season.
Last spring, they ended a decade-long drought of competing at Nationals, earning their place by winning silver at the ACAC Provincial Championships.
Yet, head coach Clayton Nielsen knows his MHC Rattlers women’s basketball team can be better.
“We’re making mistakes still,” said Nielsen, who’s in the early stages of his third year at the helm. “We’ve taken quarters off where just our sheer athleticism and our conditioning have gotten us to win games.”
But the fact that Nielsen isn’t completely satisfied with his team’s play is a good thing. If the crew was peaking this early in the season, it could potentially set up for a slump closer to the end of second semester, right when playoffs roll around.
“I like that we’re not doing really well in regards to perfect games,” he continued. “We definitely want to peak at the end of the year.”
That said, Nielsen can’t help but tout his players unity and drive this season. Contrary to previous campaigns, this year’s success has come by committee — not just a small handful of leaders taking a large bulk of the work.
“There’s probably four of them that are contributing on the stat sheet,” he added. “But everyone is contributing on rebounding and the pace we want to play at. I think once we get more into rhythm and the new players learn what we’re doing, then we’ll be more successful as we go forward.”
Fifth-year player Kendell Kuntz leads the team in scoring, averagin over 20 points-per-game, but much of Nielsen’s praise falls on a handful of first and second year players who’ve taken on greater roles.
Former Hat High Kwahommie Jordyn Kearley, who’s entering her second year with the team, is coming off a career-high 18-point performance in a 76-45 victory over Lethbridge College on Oct. 26. She’s also averaging 9.8 points-per-game, fourth highest on the roster.
Kate Rozdeba is another stand-out player entering her second-year in black and gold. The former McCoy Colt is nearly averaging a double-double-per-game, and says team chemistry is a huge reason for their early success.
“We just work hard in practice, on and off the court. Girls are always up in the gym, always shooting around outside of practice,” said Rozdeba, who sits tied for second in scoring and leads the team with 8.5 rebounds-per-game. “This is one of the teams I feel really close with. We try to do a lot of things outside of practice. We go and get together, whether it’s going out for supper or just hanging out for a movie night.”
The Rattlers biggest test yet comes Friday night, when the Rattlers head to Olds College to take on a Broncos squad that’s also nationally ranked.
Rozdeba says Friday’s game will give her team a good indication of where they stack up, and what they need to work on in the future.
“It’s going to be hard,” she said, noting they need to slow down Brittney Thibeaux, a post for the Broncos, who averages over 26 points-per-game on top of 10.3 rebounds.
Olds College, ranked seventh in the CCAA, goes into the weekend first in the south conference standings with a 5-1 record. Their only loss came against Medicine Hat on Oct. 13.
“They’re a really tough test for us because we’re not really built like them,” said Nielsen. “We’re kind of built more towards what we saw at Nationals — being athletic, and fast, and run, and that kind of stuff. Even though we beat them I think by 20, it wasn’t an easy 20.”
Friday’s tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. from Olds College. The men’s team will also travel to Olds with the ladies, looking to shake off their first loss of the season with an 8:00 p.m. start time.
