The gold medal game came right down to the buzzer as the Olds Broncos pushed past the Keyano Huskies in the final minutes to win the final game of the ACAC Women’s Basketball Championships Saturday at the Syncrude Sport and Wellness Centre.

Losing to the Broncos 54-51, the Huskies, who had strong gameplay throughout the championship in front of the home crowd, walked away with silver.

Huskies head coach Dwayne Vigilance said he thought the team played great.

“We battled right down to the end,” said Vigilance. “Little things missed here, missed a couple layups, turnover the basketball, those are things we can control, but Olds played great.”

The Broncos and the Huskies played closely through all four quarters of the gold medal game, with neither team managing to get more than a six-point lead.

The first quarter got off to a slow start, but it wasn’t long before the two teams were on the scoreboard, finishing off the first quarter with the Broncos leading 16-14.

With strong offence from both teams, the Broncos continued to lead at the end of the second quarter, but the Huskies were now within one, with a score of 28-27 for the Broncos.

The Huskies got a chance to rest during halftime and came back in the third quarter, claiming the lead early and headed into the fourth quarter leading the Broncos 39-38.

The Huskies managed to keep their lead for the majority for the fourth quarter, but it was a jump shot by the Broncos’ Brittney Thibeaux that tied the game with less than three minutes left in the game.

Although the Huskies temporarily took the lead because of a free throw by Moiyan Toure with less than two minutes left, if was another jump shot from Thibeaux that put Olds in the lead for the remainder of the game.

Vigilance said after their semi-final win that he knew Olds would provide tough competition.

“It’s going to be a battle,” he said after Friday night’s win. “I think it will be a very close game.”

The Huskies started off the championships winning against Lethbridge 75-57 Thursday night.

On Friday, the Huskies were back on the court against the University of Alberta-Augustana for the semi-final match.

Keyano took the lead early in the first quarter and were able to keep the lead until UAA’s Torey Lauber tied up the score with two minutes in the third quarter.

The game didn’t remain tied for long before Toure took it back with a jump shot. The Huskies would manage to keep the lead for the remainder of the game, defeating UAA 55-42 and putting the Huskies through to the gold medal game.

Despite the loss in the finals, it is not the end of the season for the Huskies, as they have already qualified to compete in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Basketball Championships.

“I think this team’s going to surprise people in nationals,” said Vigilance.

The Huskies will be headed to Sainte-Foy, Que. for the national championships that run March 13 to 16.

lbeamish@postmedia.com