With a limited schedule and but a couple of tournaments to their resume, the 2019-20 New Westminster Hyacks Grade 9 girls basketball team were a mystery for many entering the provincials two weeks ago in Port Moody.
Because of the lack of tough competition over much of the season -- they only had three regular season games due to few local schools fielding a Grade 9 team -- there was even some wondering from the New West side on just how they'd measure up against B.C.'s best.
All was revealed in the last days of February, when the Hyacks showed that they were and are a squad to focus on.
New West powered its way to the tourney final, with only Chilliwack's Unity Christian Flames dousing their run in a 48-34 championship final.
"It was a helluva run, just great to get a string of good, quality games in," noted New West coach Arno Richter. "Unity's best player (Savannah Vander Kooi) stands six-foot-tall, and hit three threes in the second quarter that really nullified a lot of good that we were doing. We only trailed by one at halftime, but (Unity) made a defensive adjustment which gave them an advantage in the second half."
The "adjustment" was to triple-team New West power forward Chloe Leberg, daring her teammates to take their shots from beyond the arc. It proved effective, and gave food for thought on the next step going forward for the Hyacks.
New West advanced to the final on the strength of a 52-43 victory over South Delta. They also rallied to defeat Handworth 38-34 in the quarter-final, erasing a seven-point deficit in the third quarter with a 14-4 run in the final frame.
Leading the way all season has been Leberg, who joined teammate Abby Martin on the B.C. all-star team.
"(Leberg's) been the key to our success. Without hesitation I see her as a top-three player in the province," said Richter. "She's so soft-spoken and has a shy personality but Chloe really works hard. I think this is the year where she realizes that her talent can take her a long way."
The combination of Leberg's physical skills around the key, where she out-jumps taller rivals and wins the board battles most of the time, and Martin's ball handling and passing skills, helped put the Hyacks on the map. In the few tournaments they played during the past season, including as a late addition to the St. Thomas More junior girls Chancellor Invitational to play against older players, the team rose to the challenge.
They defeated Argyle at the junior tourney, fell to host STM, then went toe-to-toe against a tough Burnaby South jr. squad before losing a one-point game.
It reflected what they saw earlier in the year when the defeated the Dr. Charles Best junior squad.
"We knew we were good but just didn't know where we slotted in," said Richter. "We put the work in, with practices starting in July and had good cohort programs at Glenbrook (where he coached the girls team last year) and Fraser River (middle schools). The girls gelled liked we hoped they would, but they worked really hard at it."
And while the spotlight was brightest on Leberg, the coach said a big responsibility for the coaches -- including Rod Del Rosario and two recent Hyack alums, Luka Cuk and Harman Sandhu -- was in helping the 12 other players complement the on-floor leader.
"That's the approach we took. Our No. 1 job is not to coach Chloe, because she brings so much to the court already, but to put a team around her that could meet the challenges ahead."
And the girls did just that. Richter said, in comparison to the boys teams he's coached, it seemed like every player was invested and eager to attend practices and listen to the coaches' instructions. It all came together, despite just a dozen games en route to the provincials. They kicked off the B.C.s by upending No. 3-ranked Earl Marriott 36-28.
Losing to Unity Christian may have left the team disappointed, but Richter is adamant and enthused about what lies ahead for the crew. Having coached the New West senior boys team through to 2018, Richter knows how beneficial a steady stream of good competition can help prepare players for events like a provincials.
"We want to make sure we're not just a one-hit wonder," he said. "We didn't see (Fraser North rivals) Riverside or Terry Fox because they didn't have Grade 9 teams, instead pushing their best Grade 9s up to junior. As we go up to the junior level we will be in that mix and have a lot of chances to prove our stuff. We just won't be catching anyone off guard."
The New West Hyacks team is: Beth Anderson, Meagan Calara, Neva Del Rosario, Ashlyn Dhandwar, Queenie Feng, Chloe Leberg, Aimee Lever, Abby Martin, Athena Matysio, Jocelyn Richter, Summer Thomas, Naylani Uy and Zinnia Wang. The coaches are Arno Richter, Rod Del Rosario, Harman Sandhu and Luka Cuk.
