Kodiaks spoil Rattlers Home Opener

On a Friday night in Medicine Hat, the Rattlers played host to their Rivals from down the number 3 the Lethbridge Kodiaks. Both teams opened the season with a loss and were hoping to pull off a win. With only 7 returnees, the new look Rattlers looked to find their identity at home. The Visiting Kodiaks as well looked to have many new faces to introduce to the highway rivalry. The Rattlers gained control after the ball went straight out off the opening tip. A quick basket from Kate Rozdeba saw the home side open the scoring. The Kodiaks were able to come right back down the floor to equalize and both teams were on the board. With sloppy play on both sides, a few unforced turnovers started to emerge and both teams looked to their defense to gain an advantage. The Rattlers Rhiannon Ware created a steal and went down to give the Rattlers the lead. Lethbridge came right back to score back to back and take a lead only to be matched seconds later from Medicine Hat. Neither team seeming to be able to find a big offensive grove, the score remained close as the quarter hit the midway point. Momentum was elusive as well as sloppy play on both sides seemed to kill any momentum they would gain. Nearing the end of the 1^st, the Rattlers were able to gain a small lead and some momentum leading 16-9 with 1:48 left. This last basket was a tipping point as the Kodiaks needed to take a timeout to regroup. It was the Rattlers however who took advantage scoring quickly out of the break and increasing the lead. At the end of the first quarter the Rattlers lead 19-9.

The Kodiaks came out fast in the second quarter wasting no time in making their first basket. The Rattlers were able to answer quickly with two of their own. The Kodiaks coaches must have said something at the break as the Kodiaks looked to have more fight. Sensing this, Rattlers Captain Morgan Muir came up with a big steal to shift the momentum back to the home side again. This was not enough to hold though as the Rattlers allowed another Kodiak basket. Following yet another unforced turnover, the Rattlers took their first timeout. The Kodiaks continued to chip away however reducing the Rattler lead to 5. The Rattlers finally broke out of their scoreless drought with a layup from Ware. The Kodiaks had another answer with Denaja Kie hitting 3 of her 15 so far in the game. With Kie subbed out, the Rattlers looked to take advantage and turned to Muir to drive the ball inside. The Kodiaks started to hit their 3 pointers and clawed their way back to tie the game at 29 with less than 2 minuets left in the half. Another offensive miss from the Rattlers gave Lethbridge the chance to take a lead late in the half. Getting to the line and hitting one of two, the Kodiaks took a late 30-29 lead. the Rattlers answered by making both of their free throws at the other end and holding a one point lead. with 5 team fouls, an on floor foul sent Lethbridge to the line to re take their lead. the Kodiaks were able to flatten the Rattlers in the quarter and took a 34-32 lead into half. The Rattlers would need to get back to their game if they hoped to win this close match.

The third quarter started with the Kodiaks headed back to the line again for a chance to further the lead. going one for two, Lethbridge extended the lead to 3. The Rattlers wasted no time responding only to be matched on the other end again. With a burst of offence to start the half, both teams were scoring until a few whistles slowed down the game and resulted in turnovers. As the defensive pressure picked up, the scoring chances lessened and got tougher. Both teams needing to work extremely hard to earn every point. The Rattlers battled back to reduce the deficit to 1 with just over 4 minutes in the quarter. Able to score again quickly the Rattlers took back the lead by just one. The Kodiaks bench looked increasingly exasperated by both their own play and the referees calls. With one minute on the clock the Kodiaks lead 44-43 in an extremely close match in all facets of the game. Lethbridge ended up with a final point from the charity stripe and took a 45-43 lead into the break.

Lethbridge with possession at the start of the 4^th took the ball down and scored easily to start the quarter. Medicine Hat responded making it to the stripe and making both shots. Kodiak Denajha Kie was able to continue to utilize her power move in the offensive zone, picking apart the Rattlers D. The Rattlers were able to stay close, never letting the Kodiak lead reach more than 3. Even taking over the lead with 6 minutes left in the game. Up 52-51, the Rattlers forced the Kodiaks to burn their first timeout. Just following the break, the Rattlers lost Morgan Muir to fouls with lots of time left on the clock, potentially a big loss. The Kodaks were immediately able to take back the lead on an easy basket from Karli McLachlan. The Kodiaks scored again and extended the lead to 3 before a huge effort from Amer Karamanos won the Rattlers the ball back. The Rattlers fell behind by 3 again and the intensity of the game ramped up in the final 2 minutes. Scoring both free throws, Tatiana Dutka again narrowed the lead to 1 before the Kodiaks went down to score again to solidify their lead. Medicine hat took their second timeout. The Rattlers scored on their possession but Kie hit another 5 points in a row to make the game 64-58 with only 48 seconds on the clock. The teams battled to the bitter end, but in the end it was the Kodiaks coming out on top with a narrow victory 67-61 winning their first game of the season

The ACAC Players of the game were Denajha Kie for Lethbridge and Katelyn Rozdeba for the Rattlers.