A gruelling stretch of games, and an unfortunate finale, weren’t enough to douse the boundless energy of a basketball team that was just happy to be on the court.
The Fort Frances regional girls’ squad put their noses to the grindstone at the nine-team Basketball Manitoba Juvenile ‘B’ girls’ regional tournament last weekend in Portage La Prairie, bowing out in the semi-finals to Brandon.
A quirky schedule saw the team get the day off Friday, with their only hoops exposure coming during a lively practice on an outdoor court at a local school.
They then had to play five games in 30 hours, which left them with an assortment of aches and pains that coach Mike Busch said still wouldn’t have been enough to keep them from soldiering on.
“If we had won that semi-final and had to play a sixth game [in the final], they would have been there for that one, too,” stressed Busch, who was most pleased about the upbeat attitude his troops maintained even after Brandon short-circuited their title hopes.
“The whole ride home, the girls were still smiling and talking about what a great experience the weekend was,” he said. “In the semi-final, they went out hard from the first minute, and in the last minute, they were still going at it.”
The team had the two youngest players at the under-17 tournament in Katie McTavish, 14, and Janelle Williamson, 15, whose play Busch likened to seasoned veterans and whom he credited for giving a boost to their older teammates.
He also praised the play-making and pressure defence of guards Ashlyn Jewell, Rebecca Cornell, Stephanie Mattson, and Dryden import Brittany Kamm in fortifying the team’s effort, as well as the shot-blocking and inside play of post players Ashley Whalen and Laura Busch.
But it was the leadership of forwards Carley McCormick, the team’s top scorer at the tournament, and Melanie Hyatt that really caught Busch’s eye.
“The two of them showed their skills and leadership at both ends of the floor, taking control and always encouraging their teammates and leading by example,” Busch remarked.
“They’ve already told me that since they’ll be over-age for this tournament next year, they still want to come back and serve as team managers,” he added.
That role was filled this year by German exchange student Jutta Kukemuck, an over-age player who did get to take part in squad’s warm-up tournament here last month because that was open to players aged 18 and under.
“Jutta was so proud to be part of this great team, both on and off the court,” said Busch.
Fort Frances opened action Saturday morning by slamming Swan Valley 65-41, with Whalen and McCormick each netting 12 points.
“After being the only team not playing Friday, our girls were so anxious to play,” said Busch. “They just took off like thoroughbreds.”
That roll continued into their second game Saturday afternoon as Fort Frances romped over St. Mary’s #2 (Winnipeg) by a score of 64-29.
McCormick was the highlight performer in that one, tearing up St. Mary’s inside defence to register a game-high 23 points.
“Carley couldn’t get one to fall during the first game, but really got in a groove in the second,” noted Busch. “We just kept pounding the ball inside, and it worked.”
Portage/Central stopped Fort Frances’ momentum in a 64-51 loss by the locals in their third game Saturday. McCormick once again paced the offence with eight points while Laura Busch added seven.
“We were up 10-2 right off the bat, but they blitzed us in the second half,” said Busch. “We were down by 20 at one point and came all the way back to within four, but we ran out of steam and ran out of time.”
Fort Frances then dominated Steinbach 67-40 on Sunday morning to wrap up round-robin play in Pool ‘B’ with a 3-1 record. McCormick struck for 20 points in that game while Kamm had 11.
“Our inside game and our defence, which was great all weekend, were the keys to that one,” said Busch. “We’re not an outside shooting team, so we wanted to get our points off the fast break, off turnovers, and moving the ball inside.”
The semi-final clash with Brandon, who didn’t end up moving to the Juvenile ‘A’ division despite reports they were going to after winning last year’s ‘B’ tournament handily, was a case of the opposition’s talent depth sinking the locals.
“Brandon had 13 girls and any one of them could be picked for an all-star team—they were that deep,” noted Busch, whose squad only hit five field goals in the first half to trail 44-17 en route to a 76-34 loss.
“We were out of sync, and exhibited some of the weaker passing we did all weekend.
“But we regrouped nicely at halftime and really worked hard on defence in the second half.”
Looking ahead, the team only will lose McCormick, Hyatt, and Mattson to age restrictions next year. As such, Busch said this year’s tournament is an important building block for better things to come.
“They were a pretty close-knit group before this tournament, and now they’ve become even closer,” he remarked. “That can only benefit us down the road for next year’s tournament.”
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
