The Barrhead Composite High School (BCHS) Junior Varsity girls basketball team scored a silver medal at their second tournament of the year in Hinton over the Dec. 15-16 weekend.
Jessica Mayen, who is coaching the team with her father Gary Frederickson, said the JV girls started out against the Hinton Raiders and came away with a 37-27 win.
Although it was close, Mayen said the girls showed a lot of growth with their transition game and working within their offence.
The JV girls next played Jasper and scored a close 37-26 victory. Mayen said the girls had a lot of opportunities to practice running their inside game this match.
She noted that Sierra Lemp saw great growth with her shooting this match, while Leah Churchill and Darma Litke are improving “every time out.”
Barrhead’s toughest match over the weekend was against the Hinton Rockies. They lost 41-44, but it was neck and neck the whole time, Mayen said.
“The girls played awesome and with a lot of intensity,” she added. “Amelia Althouse and Zoe Kaplan were the MVPs of this game, but every girl was invaluable and played their hearts out.”
That loss put the BCHS girls into a game to decide the bronze and silver medal winners. They were pitted against St. Joseph’s from Whitecourt.
Although the Barrhead girls were exhausted, the local team “rose to the challenge” and scored a 33-25 victory.
JV boys in Hinton
The BCHS Junior Varsity boys were also at the Hinton tournament, and although they weren’t able to score any wins this weekend, coach Prakash Raju credited the boys for their solid performance against some very strong opponents.
“The boys fought really hard and they played really well together,” he said.
Their first match was St. Joseph’s from Whitecourt, which ended in a 50-54 loss for Barrhead.
“That one really could have gone either way,” Raju said.
Their next two games were against Jasper and Onoway. Although those losses were more one-sided, Raju credited the boys for holding their heads high.
“A lot of other teams would have folded and given up. My boys never gave up,” he said.
Raju noted they have about 10 newcomers and four returnees this year on the team. “They’re really mixing well. The two groups — those who were there (before) and those who were joined — really have a good rhythm going together,” he said.
He added this is the first time that they’ve had three lines, owing to the fact that they have three solid centres of decent height.
“Usually you have a ton of guards, but this time I feel confident putting these guys out.”
