Photo provided by Lethbridge College
Logan Moncks (right) and the rest of the Kodiaks celebrate their ACAC championship victory in the Val Matteotti gymnasium March 4.

Everyone can exhale as the Lethbridge College Kodiaks claimed the Alberta College Athletic Conference (ACAC) women’s basketball conference championships. The Kodiaks continued its undefeated season by taking out St. Mary’s in the gold medal matchup.
The reaction off the bench was pure joy and excitement. Many of the players from last year were shocked they were eliminated in the semi-final of last year’s ACAC championships. Many of the players couldn’t hold back their emotions.
“When we got to that two-minute mark and Emma Lowry is telling me there’s no way they can come back and I’m just freaking out. Because I’ve waited for this. I’ve waited so long for this and wanted this gold medal for so long,” said Logan Moncks, ACAC player of the year.

It even was a weight off the shoulders for the coaching staff.
“It’s a big relief. It’s one of those things where we accomplished one of our goals and the next one is nationals and we’ll see what we can do there,” said head coach Brad Karren.
The Kodiaks had smiles from ear to ear and no one could stop them from dancing after receiving their medals as the feeling sunk in that they got over the hump. Having players come back from the previous year helped with chemistry on and off the floor.
“Honestly, we’re all really close off the court too, which is pretty cool. We’re all different, but
we get along really well and that translates to our basketball,” said tournament MVP Sunder West.
Moving to the next step and getting to nationals was one of the biggest goals for the players this year.
Chemistry on and off the floor was important, but this group is playing for one another as a team and not individuals.
“I’m focused and ready to go, it’s time to push through. A lot of us are done after this, it’s going to be our last year. So it’s going to be special,” added Moncks.
The team heads to Edmonton for nationals as the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
(NAIT) will play as hosts this year. The Kodiaks have been ranked nationally throughout the year and have held onto the number two spot for a majority of the season.