Junior Girls Basketball 1

18 March 2016Zjaya D, Allard ‘19 & Aidan M, Alex ‘18; Photo by Petra J, Mack '16

“Courage is taking those first steps to your dream, even if you can’t see the path ahead.”

The Brentwood Junior Girls Basketball team had no idea how the season might turn out when we showed up to tryouts on the first day of winter term sport. Each girl came with enthusiasm, and the same clear goal: to be a part of Brentwood basketball. After tryouts, and the selection of the team, we headed to a tournament quickly, after only three practices, and were, unfortunately, missing two valuable players. The tournament began with a shaky start, but everyone played their hardest, and took their first steps towards a dream. The dream was one that we all shared: qualifying for the Island Championships.

Coach Laura Mullins trained the girls hard, and saw potential. We fought hard throughout the season, despite multiple injuries for many of the players. The hard work paid off, as the team went undefeated in all of our league games, as well as earning third place finishes at both the Mark Isfeld & ISA tournaments.

At the Mid-Islands, with a convincing win over Gulf Islands in the semifinals, Brentwood headed into the finals against Cowichan. The score was tight throughout. As the final minutes on the score clock ticked away, Brentwood pulled away, winning by 14 points.

With a first place finish in the Mid-Islands, we headed to Islands. It was a tough tournament for the team: we were underdogs, and some girls were playing with injuries. It was a rough start, losing our first game, but we rallied later that day, and defeated Oak Bay. The third game was a very close one. Every Brentwood player was determined to come out with a win, and there was not a single moment when each girl wasn’t working their hardest. Sadly, we lost the game, ending our season. However, that game was the best basketball we had played all season, and our coaches could not have been prouder.

We came home with 6th place on the Island, the best any Brentwood Junior Girls Basketball team has done. The girls had a dream, and we chased it.

Thank you so much to our wonderful coaches, Laura Mullins and Melanie Ross, who helped us improve as individuals and grow as a team.

Zjaya D, Allard ‘19 & Aidan M, Alex ‘18

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