R.D. Parker Collegiate's senior basketball teams competed Feb. 19-20 at a tournament in Dauphin, where the girls' squad was undefeated and claimed first place while the boys finished third.

The girls beat Swan Valley 63-23, Calvin Christian 78-55 and Dauphin 58-42.

“The girls are starting to play up a notch,” said coach Sara Gillis. “Getting beat up in Saskatchewan helped, I think.”

Simrit Deol led the team in scoring in all three games in Dauphin, with she and Karly Romaniuk scoring 16 points apiece against Swan Valley, while Deol added another 16 against Calvin Christian, aided by Robyn Booth with 15, Romaniuk with 12, Nicole Tindall with nine and Allison Correia with a dominant 15 rebounds as well as six points. Deol had 18 against Dauphin, while Booth had 13 and Correia 11.

The girls’ team also played this past weekend at the Linden Christian charity tournament, beating Edward Schreyer 75-23 by holding them to four points in the second half. Romaniuk had 20 points in that game, followed by Jennifer Robson with 17, Deol with 10 and Booth just missing a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds.

The next game was a 60-50 loss to Sanford, the fourth-ranked AAA team in the province.

“We could have beat them, but came out flat and were behind 22-6 at the end of the first quarter,” said Gillis. “We spent the rest of the game clawing our way back, getting within five points in the fourth quarter.  We won the second, third and fourth quarters, but just could not make up the deficit. It was a great game, giving the girls confidence. They saw that they could play with a top team.”

The final game was a 59-55 win over St. John Ravenscourt. Deol scored 18, Romaniuk 13, Booth 11, and Correia had six points and 10 rebounds.

“We pulled it off even though the girls were fatigued after giving it all in the Sanford game,” said the coach. “We were a little slow on defence, getting in serious foul trouble ... three players fouled out. Those coming off the bench – Victoria Kelly, Kendall Grieves and Ruth Spence – played very well in a high-pressure, tight game. The team is playing very well right now and seems to be peaking just in time for zones. They are quite confident heading into zones. Although we seem to have a height deficit with the tallest player being 5'8”, they play much bigger and tougher than expected. It has been a pleasant surprise to me and I think to the team themselves.”

In Dauphin, the boys' team lost 96-92 to Swan Valley in overtime, and beat Dauphin 100-83 but lost 98-34 to Neelin High School from Brandon.

"When we played Neelin we were outplayed and out-hustled," said boys' coach Jonathan Wamboldt. "This week at practice the team was very focused and determined to get better and be ready for zones next weekend in The Pas.”

In the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association's latest top 10 rankings for AAA basketball, compiled Feb. 26, both RDPC senior hoops teams were ranked eighth in the province, unchanged from the previous rankings Feb. 4.