No. 1 in the province in December doesn't mean much to the Duchess Park Condors.
What matters to them is being tops on that list on March 7 when they hand out the hardware at the double-A girls basketball championship in Langley.
The Condors admit there's much to learn on the court between now and then, but they looked pretty unstoppable playing in their home gym this week at the Condor Classic tournament.
Fresh off a tournament win last week in Chilliwack, where they handily defeated No. 2-ranked St. Thomas More of Burnaby in the final, the Condors reeled off convincing wins over Cedars Christian (87-19) and Nechako Valley (67-31).
'As a team we've been trying to forget about the rankings and have the same grit in our game, knowing everyone is coming for us and we have to learn to enjoy that pressure and use that to our advantage," said Condors Grade 12 guard Emily Holmes.
"We have so much room for improvement and it's not going to be easy but we have all the pieces [to win provincials]. This week we're rebuilding our confidence and with all your friends in the crowd it makes you feel good about yourself and that makes you want to work harder. This is the one big tournament in town that everyone loves to come to, and with all the noise it's just a blast for every team."
The last time the Duchess Park senior girls won a provincial basketball banner was 2000 and last year's senior squad placed seventh. The core of the team came close two years ago when they were bronze medalists at the B.C. junior girls championship and had just two losses all season. The Condors are defending City League champions and Grade 11 guard Nicola Erricson is convinced her senior team is good enough to live up to the early-season projections and win the double-A title all this season.
"Being Number 1 in the province puts a little bit of pressure on us but it's a good boost that gives us a lot of confidence," said Erricson. "We've got to stay humble and focus on still playing our game. If we're playing a 16th-ranked team it doesn't matter because they could come out strong with enough determination to beat us, so we have to still play hard."
They finished fifth in their other tournament result two weeks ago in Abbotsford. The only Duchess Park loss came in the quarterfinals to W.J. Mouat, the fourth-ranked triple-A team in B.C.
The Condors have a balanced lineup of 10 players with support from the bench strong enough for Nechako Valley Viking coach to suggest he couldn't tell the difference.
Physically, however, the Condors have two standouts who are hard to miss. Grade 11 guard Madison Landry stands six feet tall but she has to look up to see eye-to-eye with Duchess Park post Marcie Schlick, a six-foot-four Grade 11 veteran picked as tournament MVP last weekend in Chilliwack.
"There aren't many people as tall as her so she gets the ball quite often and that gets us a lot of points," said Erricson. "She has good hands."
"Last year our offence was a bit more rushed but this year we're taking it slow and figuring it out before we go into it. On defence we're really focusing on keeping that intensity. We're all really proud with how we're playing."
With the exception of Russian student Alina Shakirova, all the Condors played together as juniors. Landry, Schlick and Shanna Olson have been putting up big point totals and they've giving the Condors what they need to win. They took a 9-1 season record onto the floor in Friday's late game against North Peace.
The Condors are the product of the efforts of coaches Bruce Ballantyne, Loiuse Holmes, Dave Holmes and Al Erricson, who all had a hand in teaching them the game the past five years.
"They know [a provincial medal] is within reach and they're working hard to achieve it," said Erricson, who shares the team's coaching duties this season with Dave Holmes.
In the senior boys tournament, Jasper Yutec sunk a buzzer-beater field goal in the dying seconds to give the Duchess Park Condors a 60-59 semifinal win Friday over the North Peace Ooks. Owen Trepanier, with 10 points, and Austyn Boulding, with eight, led the Condor cause. Chris Schlauwitz, with 23 points, and Matt Sutton, who shot 22, paced the the offence for North Peace.
In the other semifinal, the D.P. Todd Trojans topped Dawson Creek 74-66. Hayden Molcak led the Trojan cause with 22 points and his brother Colby contributed 15 points. Logan Harder, with 20 points, and Jake Hyrcha, with 16, were the high scorers for Dawson Creek.
The Trojans, who drew honourable mention in the provincial top-10 double-A rankings along with Nechako Valley, played Duchess Park in Friday's late (8:15 p.m. start) final at Duchess Park gym.
See page 12 for more Condor Classic scores.
