A gritty bunch of basketball girls from Mark R. Isfeld Secondary School captured the Area III championships in Campbell River this past weekend, winning three games impressively.
The Ice defeated Southgate from Campbell River 38-18 in the opener on Friday then Phoenix, also from Campbell River, on Saturday 26-11 and again Southgate in the double knockout tournament 32-21 in the final.
On Friday team defence led the way. Strong defensive play from forwards Zoe Nilson, Kaila McCarthy, Camryn Curts and Emma Huebchen complemented offensive guard play by Danielle Robertson, Amelia Elder, Rachel Heselgrave, Gemma Graham, Charlotte Mohtadi and Grace Denham.
Nifty baskets by Charlotte, Danielle and Gemma highlighted Saturday’s opener. Great help defence was provided by Rachel and Kaila and protecting the ball well were Grace, Gemma and Danielle.
The final provided a tense start as the hot Southgate team jumped to an early first quarter lead. The Ice girls bent but did not break and came back in the second quarter to equal the score by halftime. Re-grouping done, the Ice girls would not be denied and played an almost flawless second half led by many steals and fast breaks converting into baskets.
In the end, it was a total team effort with all players contributing to the weekend victories as well as the early season games. The girls displayed sportswomanship all the time and were great ambassadors for Mark Isfeld school. Lizzy Rozak was also an integral team member all season long but was unable to attend the weekend tournament and was missed. Special thanks to Grade 11 students Jessica and Danielle who gave up their time to help coach with ‘old’ coach MacKinnon. "Well done girls!" MacKinnon said.
– Isfeld Ice Basketball