Playing a team with absolutely no pressure and nothing to lose can be one of the most dangerous things to do.
That's how the Diamonds junior high performance girls basketball team approached the Wolves Junior High Basketball Tournament in Grande Prairie, Alta., this past weekend.
photo courtesy of Brad Anstey
With head coach Tobi Dusome nervous about the level of play before leaving for the tournament, the group of young ladies brought home the tournament's consolation title after defeating Bert Bowes Middle School from the host community by a score of 46-40 in the final. They ended the tournament with just one loss, that being in their opening game against Glenmary School of Peace River, Alta., 34-13.
That loss meant the Diamonds were sent over to the consolation bracket, but Dusome said there was no shame in that loss.
“That team was made up of all Grade 9's and we had mostly Grade 7's,” she said. “I thought they played a great first game, considering we were coming off of a 2 a.m. arrival before our first game and plenty of nerves.”
The key to Glenmary's victory was the use of a full-court press for most of the game, but Dusome had a press break to counter that.
It didn't work out until later in the game.
“The press break was new to the girls and we worked on it a bit before we went down, but they just pulled away from us,” said Dusome.
So it was off to the consolation bracket, where the girls kept on winning all the way to the final, where they went up against Bert Bowes in a back-and-forth affair. Late in the fourth quarter, both teams were tied at 40-40 when Taya Straker fouled out.
Add that to Lily Newberry being on the bench with an injury and it made for a tough situation.
“I've got my point guard on the bench and Lily's just taken a finger to the eye,” said Dusome.
Dusome went to call on Alison Anstey to see if she was able to go. Anstey, too, was walking wounded as she had a bad back.
“I asked her if she could play but if she wasn't 100 per cent, she shouldn't go,” said Dusome. “She told me she could give me 1:40, which is how much time was left on the clock.”
As luck would have it, Anstey ended up stealing the ball on a Bert Bowes possession and scored the go-ahead bucket to make it 42-40. The Diamonds kept the pressure on and forced another turnover, which turned into another basket.
The win exceeded all expectations, said Dusome.
“We were approached by the women's head coach of Grande Prairie Regional College, who said she was impressed with our girls' fundamentals, grit, toughness and decision-making for being so young,” she said. “She couldn't believe some of our team were in Grade 6.”
More importantly, Dusome was most impressed with how the girls jelled together.
“It's not very often you see a multi-age level girls team with the ability to include and accept each other's differences and skill levels so well,” she said. “The empathy and support they showed each other was great and pretty awesome leadership as well.”
If there's any postscript from the tournament, Dusome said the girls want another crack at the A division champions.
“After we won the consolation, the girls all wanted to play Glenmary again,” she said. “They were asking me to set up an exhibition game or something because they feel they can beat them.”