Basketball trio honoured on senior night

As women's basketball get set to make history when they host the CCAA Championship, they will also say goodbye to staples of the program during it's highest point.

Jaden Cook, Hailey Somers and Ally Pilgrim are playing in their final regular season game tonight, following five years of competing in the ACAC. All three have left their mark on the squad and contributed in a meaningful way to the success the Rustlers have had in the past half decade.

"We're  very happy to have all three of these girls in our program and celebrate their fifth year together on the floor at Lakeland," Head Coach Chris King said. "Even though we know we get four more home games, it's still an exciting time.

"it's going to be exciting to celebrate and I know I'll cry, but it's not like we've been focusing on anything being our last this or that," Cook said. "It's been a lot more filled with positive emotions."

Pilgrim, who hails from Bazanson, joined the team in the fall of 2016 and was thrust into a big role with a small roster. This resulted in her rapid growth into a versatile defender, often tasked with guarding taller players, and earned a reputation for making big shots, helping anchor the 2019 bronze medal winning team and the 2020 squad that won the program's first ACAC title.

Reflecting on her time at Lakeland, Pilgrim said the community of student athletes is what stands out the most.

"I met so many people and made some of my best friends at Lakeland," she said. "Last year I watched my best friend Angela Baran have her senior night and was awesome to reflect on her time playing here. It's also exciting because I've spent the majority of my career with Hailey and Jaden."

Cook and Somers have been linked together since high school, where they played with and against each other while in high school in Regina. Joining the team a year after Pilgrim, both players quickly earned minutes in the rotation in their first two years before becoming mainstays in the starting lineup in 2020 when Lakeland won the championship. Cook was named Second Team All Conference that season, while Somers made it in 2022 when the Rustlers won their second title.

The pair noted how much has changed in their lives since, as they had know idea back then they would be here nearly a decade later.

"There were still those decisions about if we'd be here after our first tow or three years. I wouldn't have thought I'd have spent time on and off at Lakeland for seven years, but we're grateful that we're in this place now," Cook said. "[It's] going to leave a whole in our hearts leaving here, not seeing all the kids we've coached."

We wondered how we'd make things work among 19 players to make sure we weren't cliquey, but instead I feel the sense of family, the things our fifth year players early on told us," Somers said. "I had one teammate we played with for two years who reach out to say she was grateful to get to know us."

All three players were crushed when the pandemic restrictions of early 2020 resulted in the CCAA Championship being canceled, which extended to the termination of the following season. Pilgrim, who did not return to Lakeland the following years and worked in Edmonton, said this was a key reason she came back for one more year, despite how hard the process of getting back to the level required to be on the floor has been.

"Having nationals taken away in my fourth year was devastating, so being able to come back and play on our home floor is an incredible opportunity," she said.

"I always remember Chris saying how hard it is to come back and play after taking time off, it took six months of very hard work to even get back to a fraction of what I was previously. It's challenging mentally and physically, but worth it."

While Cook and Somers came back in 2022 and helped the team to a nearly undefeated, both suffered significant knee injuries, (Cook during the ACAC tournament, Somers the following fall). As a result, they had a long road of rehabilitation right up to the start of this past season.

Ahead of the playoffs this winter, the trio can draw on their experience of winning in 2020 with former player (now assistant coach) Tori Dugan, which is the moment Cook said she will remember most proudly.

"There were so many years of not getting past the Semi-final, knowing that Tori had worked so hard for that, we had a fifth year Bri Hergott," she said. "That team will hold such a special place in my heart, putting the first women's basketball banner on the wall and setting the culture for today. 

"It's cool to see how that has helped us grow and helped us accomplish things that other players laid the groundwork for," Somers added.

"Everything Al Rogan tells us each year about the three C's, I hope our time was encompassing of those things. Know my professors well, worked hard to be a good teammate and tried to make a positive impact in the community.

And once the emotions of Saturday night settle, there's plenty of motivation to stay dialed in to what the Rustlers are trying to accomplish, ending with a National Championship at home in March.

My dad called me to say he's on the road for the next several weeks because of when we play," Cook said. "Sounds right."