Edwin Parr Composite’s (EPC) junior varsity girls basketball team was the favourite to win zones last weekend, and they did not disappoint; however, the tournament still had tense moments, said coach Janelle Tarrant.
“We were first in our zone coming in, so we had previously played these teams at our home tournament (and won),” said Tarrant of the teams from Barrhead, Westlock and Edson that attended zones.
The Predators also had home court advantage as they hosted zones.
“Coming into zones, we were pretty confident, but you never know —things change, right?” said Tarrant.
The Barrhead Gryphons posed an early threat to the Predators last Friday, though the EPC girls managed a 52-38 win.
“That was close,” said Tarrant. “But we weren’t really on it.”
By Saturday morning, the Predators were in better form, said Tarrant. They carried on undefeated in the round-robin format to take first, including a decisive 80-39 victory over Westlock in their final game.
Tarrant had coached most of the girls previously in club basketball.
“Coming into this season, I knew I had a strong team,” she said. She also had a young team: one Grade 10 player, two Grade 11s and 10 players in Grade 9.
Despite their youthfulness, Tarrant’s tenure as coach for many of the girls will be short lived. As approximately eight players graduate from the senior girls team coached by Wade Hicks, many JV girls will be called up to the senior ranks next year.
“It’ll be good. They’ll be together for Grade 9, 10, 11 and 12, so they’ll be super strong for him in their senior year,” said Tarrant.
She will be sorry to see them go, though.
“The season has been great. I absolutely love coaching these girls, and I’m going to miss them a lot next year.”
