Bird watching is all the rage, especially for college basketball recruiters looking to restock the talent pool.
They've got their eyes trained on Condors - the Duchess Park variety.
The senior girls basketball team has pretty much ruled the roost in the north central zone and the Condors have been holding their own around the province, taking on the best B.C. has to offer and that draws the eyes of university teams.
Their No. 6 provincial ranking is a product of hard work, an experienced coaching staff and an abundance of talented athletes who know what it takes to win the big games, just like they did Wednesday in the City League final at the Northern Sport Centre.
The College Heights Cougars hung close for the first half, trailing by 12 at the intermission, but the Condors depth proved too much to handle down the stretch. They buried the Cougars in the third quarter, outscoring their crosstown rivals 18-4 on the way to a 78-29 victory - the Condors' fifth-straight City League championship.
"It's always such a fun time to play, the energy from the crowd just makes you so pumped up but I think we were really nervous at the beginning and we were kind of jittery and scared," said Condors Grade 12 guard Sydney Lopez, now a two-time city champion.
"After the first half we kind of pulled everything together and worked as a team and we held College Heights."
Jessica Nycholat and Isabelle Fuller each scored 10 to pace the Cougars and most of those points came in the first half. The Condors keyed on them much better defensively, limiting the Cougars to just five points in the second half.
"They're way too good, they have 10 players they can rotate, five on five off, they all play solid defence and unfortunately we weren't able to keep up to them," said Cougars head coach Sharon Johal, whose team will get another crack at the Condors in the double-A zone championship at Duchess Park in two weeks.
"Next time we'll see if we can give them two good halves instead of just one."
The Condors finished ninth in the province last year and their depth this season has been a difference-maker. But they needed to step up the intensity level and responded to the urging of head coach Louise Holmes during her halftime pep talk.
"After the half we settled down and we pushed the tempo and played better defence on their better players and we decided to do what we do best," said Condors point guard Rachel Holmes, who finished with 11 points.
"It's cool to be part of a team like this, just because everyone's scoring and everyone has success and it makes us a stronger team. Last year we only lost one game at provincials and we played some of the best teams in the province and hopefully this year we'll do better."
Rebecca Landry, a Grade 11 wing who plays on Team B.C., shot a game-high 15 points, Lopez had 13 and Jasmin Schlick finished with nine.
If family pedigree means anything, and in basketball it certainly seems to, the Condors could have a few future university players in their midst. Grade 12 seniors Holmes and Landry both have older sisters who play for the UNBC Timberwolves (Emily Holmes and Madison Landry) and Grade 10 forward Schlick, all of six-foot-two, has a sister named Nicole who plays for the UBC Thunderbirds.
"They've grown up in the gym, they've watched their older sisters play and have seen what it takes to play at that next level and compete and they want it as well," said Louise Holmes. "It's a joy for me to have the second Landry and the second Schlick and of course, one of my own (Rachel is her daughter) to put through that system. People are asking questions about the kids and it's exciting for them."
Duchess Park senior post Kayla Gregory is also on the scouts' radar and two schools - Thompson Rivers and UNBC - are showing interest in Nycholat, one of only two Grade 12s on the College Heights senior team.
In the boys City Final that followed at the NSC, the D.P. Todd Trojans were up 39-33 at halftime against the Duchess Park Condors, the two-time defending champions. But, by the end of the third quarter, the Condors had pulled into a 61-56 lead.
The game was still in progress at The Citizen's press deadline.
High school basketball
2018 City League all-stars
Girls
Rebecca Landry, Duchess Park
Jessica Nycholat, College Heights
Sydney Lopez, Duchess Park
Kayla Gregory, Duchess Park
Jenna Korolek, Kelly Road
Brynn Dergousoff, Duchess Park
Isabelle Fuller, College Heights
Naomi Dugdale, Kelly Road
Boys
Colburn Pearce, Duchess Park
Cameron Sale, D.P. Todd
Asher Bourque, PGSS
Malcolm MacDonald,
Duchess Park
Holden Black, D.P. Todd
Cody Boulding, Duchess Park
Garrett Anderson, Duchess Park
Ameer Dhillon, PGSS
