Pronghorns upset Vikes 84-82

EDMONTON - Third-year Piper Dobbelsteyn hit two massive threes down the stretch to help the 11th-seed Lethbridge Pronghorns hold off a ferocious second-half Victoria Vikes comeback effort and win a tight 84-82 Canada West Play-In contest Friday night at the Saville Centre.

The victory is the first in the postseason in three seasons for the Pronghorns, and sees them advance to the Quarterfinals where they will face the 3-seeded Alberta Pandas tomorrow evening. The result is a direct inverse to the playoffs of last season, as on this day last year the Vikes beat out the ‘Horns in Round 1 by a 54-43 margin. Suffice it to say this one was a little higher scoring, thanks to a combined 47 points from Dobbelsteyn, Kamryn Deklerk, and Kyra Collier from Lethbridge, and a game-high 25 from Victoria’s Mimi Sigue. 

The Pronghorns led for nearly 38 minutes in this one, as they ebbed and flowed between a four and as many as ten point lead across the game. However, the energetic guard duo of Karis de Paiva and Jenna Talib had eight points apiece in a greatly entertaining fourth quarter, one in which they actually evened the score but just could not muster enough to complete the comeback. 

“The seasons on the line, [Victoria] made a great push in the last two minutes … but I really liked the 38 minutes before that,” Pronghorns head coach Dave Waknuk said following the win. He added, “I thought we kept our heads and we kept playing. They made shots, we kept coming. And that, to me, is winning playoff basketball.”

The teams were neck-and-neck in the most important of categories, with Victoria actually outshooting (43.8%-41.3%) and outrebounding (49-40) the Pronghorns. However, Lethbridge did handily outpace the Vikes in points off turnovers (21-14), and points in the paint (40-30) both massive in the postseason victory.

The Pronghorns got off to a blazing start in Edmonton, opening the game with a 13-4 run that forced an early Vikes timeout. They struggled from three in the frame, going bucketless on eight attempts, but they shot a staggering 9-for-11 inside the line en route to a 19-12 first quarter lead. Lethbridge boasted seven scorers in the frame, with Viktoriia Kovalevska pacing them with five points, while Victoria’s Mimi Sigue kept her team in the game with a quarter-high eight. 

The game tightened considerably in the second as the Vikes began to hit their stride offensively near the end of the frame as, led by a huge three and a couple buckets from Karis de Paiva, they cut the ‘Horns lead to just five points with 2:21 left in the half. However, a late response from Janessa Docter and Lethbridge maintained their seven-point lead from the first as they headed into the break 42-35. 

Sigue paced all scorers with 13 points at the half, while the Horns were led by Mhari Mattuli who had eight. The story of the first half was the Pronghorns domination of the paint, as they outscored the Vikes 28-16 in that area and had large swathes of time dominating on the boards.

Lethbridge came out of the break determined, at one point opening up a 10 point lead midway through the quarter, as they generally held the momentum all quarter. However, some incredibly well-timed buckets, a three from Natalie Allison and a couple buckets from Sigue, would keep the Pronghorns from opening this one up. Then with two minutes remaining Makena Anderson would hit two quick layups for the Vikes to cut the lead to six, followed a minute later by a huge Allison three that would help the Vikes enter the final frame down just four points at 62-58.

The squads saved the best for last, as the fourth quarter was a shot-making exhibition that saw Victoria knot the game at 65 with 7:11 remaining. However, Collier and Dobbelsteyn would hit a trio of triples to put the ‘Horns up 81-71 with just 2:31 on the clock, and the game seemingly in Lethbridge’s control. Enter Sigue, de Paiva, and Talib who each hade a bucket in what was an ensuing eight-point run for the Vikes that moved the score to 81-79 with 40 seconds remaining. After an empty ‘Horns possession, Victoria had the chance for the lead or tie with 17 seconds left in the game, but were unable to convert, with some Lethbridge intentional free throws the final blow in a raucous fourth. 

The Pronghorns face off against the host Alberta Pandas tomorrow at 5PM MST, who have won 16-straight, in what promises to be another exciting chapter in this provincial rivalry.