They did it the hard way, but do it they did.
The Mark Isfeld Ice junior girls basketball team advanced to the Provincial championships at the Langley Events Centre, winning three games at the Vancouver Island championships this past weekend. The girls defeated Claremont (Victoria) in the opening game by a close score, then defeated a very tough G.P. Vanier team on Friday morning and closed out the tournament upsetting Victoria #1 seed St. Michaels University School. The three tough wins gave the Ice the second Island berth to the B.C.s.
"This is a tremendous accomplishment," said coach Hugh MacKinnon, "because in juniors there is no division splitting of schools according to student population like there is in senior high school competition, which splits schools into four tiers (A, AA, AAA, AAAA).
"In juniors all schools battle for only two Vancouver Island berths for the one Provincials championship, so to earn a berth is very special indeed! The character, poise and determination of the girls was special to witness," added MacKinnon.
In the final game, SMU led by as many as 12 points but the Isfeld girls never gave up, inspired by the Canadian women's hockey team to keep battling. In the fourth quarter, the Ice pressed the SMU girls, creating havoc and turnovers which led to Isfeld taking their first lead of the game with less than a minute left. The composed Ice held on to complete the upset of Victoria's #1 seed and to acquire the provincial berth.
Contributions were made by many and Aleah Ashlee was selected to the all-star team. Other team members include: Jairynn Kuruez, Kyla DeWitt, Maggie Snyder-Harris, Sydney Kuhnert, Sabine Rankin, Sylvie Stewart-Grantham, Delaynee Pedersen-Skene, Chelsea Lachapelle, Maddi Eaton, assistant coach Grant Ashlee and team manager Wayne Kuhnert.
– Isfeld Ice