Under the radar, the New Westminster Hyacks have just gone about their business of climbing the ladder and targeting a berth to next month’s provincial AAA senior girls basketball championships.
Despite going through three-quarters of the season with but two losses to their name, New West received little love from the high school ranking gurus.
They’ll keep on plugging along, but now will do it against the cream of the crop as the Hyacks won a spot to next week’s B.C. tournament in Langley by finishing third at the Lower Mainland championships last week.
By stopping McMath 62-52 on Saturday, New West corralled the zone’s final berth to the big tournament, which runs Feb. 28 to March 2 at the Langley Events Centre. Their first opponent will be No. 7th-ranked Semiahmoo, 1:45 p.m., with a win pushing them Thursday against the survivor of a Brookswood-Oak Bay matchup (noon, March 1).
At the Lower Mainlands, there were some speed bumps along the way, most noticeably a 69-41 loss to Argyle in the semifinal. But it all came out good in the end after the Royal City crew rallied and peeled off two straight wins to earn its way back to the B.C.s after a one-year absence.
“We had a 15-point lead (over McMath) at halftime, and they came within five points by starting to press,” New West coach Doug Woodward said. “But we didn’t fold, we kept making our free throws, and they had to foul us to get the ball back.”
Mia Obrovac counted a team-high 21 points in the win, while Sarah Forgie counted 19 and Devin Strome chipped in nine. Forgie, who averaged 18.7 points per game over the four-game series, joined Strome on the Lower Mainland all-star team.
To cut the pollsters some slack, no Lower Mainland team has been among the top-10 list since Carson Graham, who finished second at the tourney, was seeded 10th on Dec. 20. And yes, New West, at 30-3 overall, was given a nod of respect this past week when for the first time they made the ‘Honourable Mentions,’ joining fellow zone rivals Argyle and Graham.
After Argyle served up New West’s third loss of the season in the semifinal last Thursday, the Hyacks were in must-win territory. And they responded accordingly, bouncing Lord Byng 64-28 to draw into the third-place game.
“(Argyle) just out-played us,” said Woodward. “They shot really well, they out-hustled us and we were down 20-6 before we knew what hit us. We couldn’t hit anything; the only thing we hit was the the backboard from behind.”
Coming to the fore during the last two wins were Forgie, Strome and international student Kanon Imachi, who drew some tough assignments on defence.
“She’s why we beat (Carson) Graham last month,” the coach said of Imachi. “We put her on their best post player, and despite the height difference (Imachi stands five-foot-two) she got on her nerves. She’s really irritating for the opposition.”
Without receiving much love most of the year from those who have a say in the ranking, New West will get their best chance to prove them wrong when the B.C.s start up. It won’t be easy.
“There are eight (Fraser) Valley teams, with two winning the last wildcard games,” Woodward noted. “They are all intense, they all practise hard, they have a lot of club players. You need a team game and hopefully some others can step up.”
This week will provide a lot of valuable practice time for the senior-heavy lineup, who like Woodward are looking at their final trip to the B.C.s.
“Every game will be an underdog situation for us,” said Woodward. “We want to be competitive every game and if we didn’t get much respect during the season we’ll earn it there.”
