The Duchess Park Condors had to put provincials out of their minds. It's time to start thinking about them again.
The Duchess Park senior girls basketball team qualified for the double-A provincial championship tournament by going 3-0 at zones on the weekend. In the tournament, played at Duchess, the Condors opened with a 106-21 thumping of the D.P. Todd Trojans, beat the Nechako Valley Viqueens of Vanderhoof 75-38 and then downed the Viqueens again, 80-33.
All season, expectations on the Condors have been high. At a certain point, the outside talk of the team's potential became a distraction so the players had to work hard to stay in the moment -- one game at a time, one goal at a time. Now that they have achieved one of their major objectives, they are preparing for a trip to Langley and a showdown with the top teams in B.C.
"To their credit, the girls haven't focused on provincials but now we start to, and they're excited about going," said Bruce Ballantyne, who co-coaches the Condors with Al Ericcson.
"The motto for this whole year has been, 'our best without comparison,'" Ballantyne added. "That's all we're striving for -- to be the very best we can be, and right now it's not looking bad because for the first time we're playing as a group of 13. It's kind of fun."
Provincials are March 5-8 at the Langley Events Centre. The rankings are expected to be released today. The Condors -- who entered zones ranked sixth in the province -- could be as high as No. 3 for the 16-team tournament.
This season, the Condors have posted an overall record of 27-4 and haven't lost to anybody north of Kelowna. All the players on the team played in provincials last season, either as juniors or seniors. Last year's junior team won a bronze medal at the B.C. tournament and last year's senior squad placed fifth.
Earlier this month, the depth of the Condors showed through when they claimed the city championship title with a 71-44 victory over the Cedars Christian School Eagles.
At zones, Grade 10 Duchess Park player Madison Landry -- who can fill any spot on the floor -- was chosen as most valuable player. Teammates Emily Holmes and Carly Shaw-MacLaren were named first all-stars and Shanna Olsen was handed the top defensive player award.
Trojans dominant at zones
The D.P. Todd Trojans were an unstoppable force at their senior boys basketball zone championship tournament, held on the weekend at D.P. Todd.
In Saturday's final of the double-A event, the Trojans downed the Nechako Valley Vikings of Vanderhoof 84-57. Earlier in the tournament, D.P. Todd beat Fort Nelson 79-43 and defeated the Vikings 87-50.
The Trojans, current city champions, will play in provincials March 5-8 at the Langley Events Centre.
Heading into zones, they were ranked ninth in B.C.
