The Lake City Falcons senior girls basketball team finished just shy of a provincial berth last weekend when they played host to the ‘AAA’ North Central Zone Championships.
The Falcons, after battling to the tournament final Saturday, fell to a tough North Peace squad from Fort St. John, 84-38.
Lake City, who came into the tournament seeded behind North Peace and Dawson Creek, played the underdog role to perfection beating Dawson Creek, 47-41, then again, 59-41, in the tournament semifinal to advance to the championship game.
It was the first time Williams Lake had hosted a ‘AAA’ girls zones since 2006.
“Last year we made our stand in the North Central Zone and placed in the medals with a bronze, so we are happy to have improved on that placing to take silver this year,” said Falcons’ head coach Brigette Peel.
“Some of the other schools have the advantage of playing together year after year. [And since the amalgamation of Columneetza secondary and Williams Lake secondary] we had to spend a lot of time developing as a team and learning to play with girls who were used to opposing each other.
“It’s not that the rivalries still exist, it just took a lot of time to see how this player or that player was going to react to the so many different situations basketball presents, to develop chemistry, trust and an identity.”
With a guard-heavy roster the Falcons, throughout the season, had to rely on a three-guard, two-forward offense.
Prior to zones Peel said the Falcons had a discouraging four-win, 12-loss season, however, worked hard and improved steadily throughout the campaign.
“This team has worked hard to improve,” she said. “They persevered to rise above that and win the games we did at zones, and I was very proud of their efforts and teamwork and, of course, the outcome.”
Six girls from the Falcons 12-member roster — Kaylee Billyboy, Carly Magnuson, Maddison Gaylord, Natasha Lewis, Ariel Zacharias and Inderroop Randhawa, who was named a tournament all-star — will graduate this year and Peel said they will be dearly missed.
“They certainly have played some key roles in the successes of their teams over the years,” Peel said.
“But the experience gained by this strong group of Grade 11s will show some great basketball.”
Peel said Grade 11 Laura Pfleiderer, who won the tournament’s most outstanding defensive player and took a leadership role early on in the team’s season, plus Grade 11s Emma Pfleiderer, Melanie Wintjes, Naomi Lomavatu, and lone Grade 10 player Morgan Blois, will play a key role in next year’s team’s success.
“These girls show a lot of promise,” she said. “I think we can have high hopes for next year’s team.”