The Duchess Park Condors are shooting for a top-two finish this weekend at the north central junior girls basketball zone championship.
The Condors, who finished third last year, will be on the court at D.P. Todd competing against College Heights, Prince George secondary school and Nechako Valley from Vanderhoof.
The top two teams will advance to provincials, March 4-7 in Langley.
It's been quite the season for the Condors, who've won local tournaments at Duchess Park and College Heights. They also won three out of four games in a round-robin junior tournament a few weeks ago at Sa-Hali secondary in Kamloops.
The Condors are comprised of six Grade 10s, five Grade 9s and one Grade 8.
"Their work ethic is outstanding," said head coach Louise Holmes, who's coached basketball for 25 years. "The biggest advantage is having speed and depth - we can maintain the tempo throughout a game. It's a privilege to have it. We've got great parents. Love the junior level, this age group is absolutely a really great age.
"They're willing to learn and I can see it in their development. They're keen to learn and the girls are asking the right questions. They want to get better."
If the junior Condors want to know what it takes to be successful, they don't have to look very far.
The Duchess Park senior girls are the top double-A team in the province. Holmes said it's all part of building consistency between the junior and senior girls' programs.
"They got to watch the seniors play at Sa-Hali and they said, 'They're running the same offence as we are.' We're making the foundation now and they will learn it and get better," said Holmes. "It's great for them to watch the seniors play. They see the tempo and see what the next level is."
If the Condors qualify for provincials, they'll be among 16 teams from across the province. Even though Duchess Park is considered a double-A school, junior provincials include not only double-A teams, but those from single-A and triple-A tiers.
"There's no tiering at junior provincials," said Holmes. "It makes it challenging for sure but we've got to play those (triple-A) teams to get better. I took the team to a tournament in Brookswood in Langley earlier in the season. We were 1-3 ...but we learned from it."
