For the first time in their history, Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School's senior girls basketball team brought home a trophy.
The girls came in second place in the Desert Sands Community School Invitational Tournament held from Jan. 10 to 11 in Ashcroft. Head coach Rick Barker said that as far as he can tell this is the first time the PSO Eagles senior girls team has made it to the finals of any tournament and he is incredibly proud of his players, noting this win was "no easy road."
“The team worked extremely hard and were at their best under pressure for the first two games,” Barker said. “Both the school administration and myself are incredibly proud of our Grade 12 girls for fighting so hard to bring back the second-place trophy.”
Barker said their path to success started with a nail-biting 40-39 win over the Kamloops Christian School (KCS) Eagles senior girls team on Jan. 10. He noted that the Eagles won with less than two seconds in the game when Eva Rosenstock took an inbound pass from team captain Joelle Kuyek. Rostenstock then fed the ball back to Kuyek who was able to push past the KCS defenders and score a lay-up, her only points in the game.
Following a KCS timeout the Eagles' defence was able to foul two chances to make a shot and tie the game, securing the Eagles' razor-thin win. Barker said that PSO Eagle Jenny Schroevers received a Game Star award for her performance, leading all scorers with 16 points.
After their initial victory, the Eagles' second matchup was against the hometown DSCS Rams. While this game was also initially a tight one, Barker said his team was able to pull ahead in the last two minutes of the game winning 35-27 and securing a place in the finals. Schroevers and Kuyek led their team with eight and nine points respectively, while Rosenstock was given the Game Star for carrying the team in several key moments.
“We know defence wins games, and the team proved that over the weekend. They worked very hard and fast and outran their opponents during those games. Our guards, Claire Kreschuk, Myra Hindmarsh, Skylinn Larsen and Daizey Sankey gave everything they could defensively. Eva Rosentock was as strong as ever, and Grace Friesen and Daylee Whyte owned the boards on both ends,” Barker said. “It was a pleasure to coach them.”
However, Barker said that a five-hour gap between their game against the Rams and the finals against the Barriere Secondary School Cougars ended up stalling his team's momentum. The Cougars proved to be strong shooters and the Eagles fell behind early in the game.
"Though they fought back to just five hoops between them in the third quarter, it was too little too late as the Cougars came out on top 41-21," Barker said.
The Eagles will look to replicate this success in Williams Lake Dec. 17 to Dec. 18 as they take part in the Lake City Secondary School Falcons' Tournament.