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BARRHEAD - The Neerlandia Public Christian School (NPCS) girls topped off a very strong year with a gold medal at the 2J zone championships in Whitecourt March 4-5, which was preceded with a championship finish at divisionals in Westlock on Feb. 24.
The NPCS Eagles went into the divisionals with a strong season record of two gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze from previous tournaments.
This is in spite of the fact that this year’s team is very young with only two Grade 9 students on the roster, said Neerlandia coach Brett Seatter.
“At the beginning of the year, we weren’t going to have any Grade 7s on the team … but when we were worried about injuries and potentially some being out with illness or COVID symptoms, we decided to call up three of the Grade 7s,” Seatter said, noting they also have seven Grade 8 players.
“This group of girls has gotten along really well all year and there’s never drama or fighting on this team. It’s been a pleasure to coach them as they’re so cooperative, hard-working and great teammates to one another.”
Due to the fact there were only four teams on the girls’ side, Neerlandia only had to defeat Athabasca in the first round of the tournament to enter the final against BCHS.
Seatter noted that they had played Barrhead in three tournaments this year, each time competing for the gold medal, and had won two of those match-ups.
“It’s been a great series against them this season and I have a lot of respect for their players and their coach. They were a strong opponent every time,” Seatter said.
This proved to be the case again as the game started out slowly, but eventually Neerlandia gained the lead and came out with a 40-30 victory. Erickson noted this was Neerlandia’s first victory at divisionals.
At the zones, the NPCS girls started out with a 44-21 victory over Holy Redeemer Catholic High School from Edson in the semi-finals.
That put them into the championship final with the host team, Ecole St. Joseph School from Whitecourt. Neerlandia had faced them twice this year in two other tournaments and defeated them both times, said Seatter.
This time the Whitecourt team had a vocal crowd cheering them on, and while Neerlandia managed to win the match 45-30, it didn’t feel like a sure thing until the very end, said Seatter.
“St. Joe’s kept pressing us all game long and they’d have waves of scoring that would get the game close again (and the crowd roaring), but then our girls would beat the press and get a few baskets to get a healthy lead again,” Seatter said.
With their year now concluded with a 17-3 record, Seatter said it was an absolute pleasure to coach these girls this year.
“The future is very bright for this team as our Grade 8s are very talented and athletic. These girls are so fun to watch!”
