The Lethbridge College Kodiaks men’s basketball team has booked their ticket to the CCAA Nationals next weekend.
Although they didn’t win the Conference championship, the team still moves onto the national tournament.
While the Women’s Alberta Colleges Athletic Conferences (ACAC) basketball championships were going on in Lethbridge, the Kodiaks men’s team was battling it out in Medicine Hat.
The Kodiaks men’s team headed into the Gas City with a three-game winning streak, but were still considered underdogs in the tournament.
After a huge win against NAIT in the first round, the Kodiaks advanced to face the hosts Medicine Hat.
Multiple players were having their first taste of ACAC playoffs and they relished in the opportunity as first-year players.
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“It was a great experience, I was really excited just to be able to go in with the team and to see all the fans. There was a ton of people there, especially our game against Med Hat. It was probably the biggest game I’ve played in, we were so happy with the win,” said first-year guard Jackson Kasko.
The Kodiaks would go on to upset the second nationally ranked Medicine Hat Rattlers to advance to the finals lined up against one of their biggest rivals, the SAIT Trojans.
The team was feeling good going into the gold medal showdown.
“Our team confidence was really high actually, I’d say maybe even a little too high. Going into the final we were kind of gassed and a little over confident but we gave it all we had,” said Kasko.
Unfortunately for the Kodiaks they came up 20 points shy in the final.
Even though the squad wasn’t able to come away with a victory, they get
to advance to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) National Championships in Prince Edward Island looking for redemption.
The team hopes to have a good week of practices before heading out east and are looking forward to being underdogs in the big tournament.
“In the gold medal game there is no doubt that SAIT outplayed us, but we know that we can play with any team in the nation. Going into nationals we are very con dent that we are going to surprise some teams in P.E.I.,” said veteran guard Pierce Van Gaalen.
The team will enter the tournament as the ACAC wild card team along with SAIT, the ACAC champions.
Lethbridge will matchup against Quebec’s Nomades de Montmorency in their first game on March 16.
The Nomades had a 13-1 regular season while the Kodiaks went 15-6.
