A huge weight has been lifted off the shoulder of the St. Tim's senior girls basketball team with their win last night in quarterfinal play of the Calgary Senior High School Athletic Association.

Last night, the Thunder held off a fourth-quarter rally by the Kodiaks of the St. Martin de Porres to win 65-53 and advance to the semifinals against Lord Beaverbrook Lords on Thursday night in Calgary.

The Thunder took a 10-point lead into the second half and an explosive third quarter saw them pull ahead by 21. The Kodiaks attempted a fourth-quarter comeback, coming within eight with two minutes remaining, but the Thunder found their composition and shut them down then burned off most of the last 30 seconds of play.

The Thunders bench rejoices in their win against the Kodiaks.

For the Thunder, it was a bit of redemption. The Kodiaks have been a stumbling block not only in senior girls basketball but in volleyball earlier this year. 

"I think the girls got the monkey off the back with that school because they lost to them in volleyball and they beat us twice in basketball so it's nice to get the win," says Head Coach Leo Keefer.

Even with a short bench, the Thunder likes to push the pace and score off the rush, says Keefer.

"We got away from that at times and that's when we start to lose our game a little bit. If we stick to our offensive play on Thursday night we should be fine."

Thursday night will determine if the Thunder will advance to the City Championships this Saturday at Crescent Heights High School in Calgary.

"We finished with the same record with Beaverbrook and we beat them in our game here. We know we can play well against them, it's just a matter of going out there and sticking to our game plan.

The top four teams in the regular season have made the cut to the semifinals and three of the four had identical 8-2 records, including the Thunder, Lords and Chiefs, with the Chiefs coming out on top with the point differential.

The other semifinal matchup sees the John G. Diefenbaker Chiefs challenge the Central Memorial Rams. 

Also in the quarterfinals, the St. Tim's senior boys lost to the Robert Thirsk Comets, 107-41. The Comets have been the powerhouse in division 3 play with a perfect 10-0 regular season. The Thunder passionately fought their way into the playoffs by downing the Kodiaks in their last regular season game.