Playoffs – it’s time we’re talking about playoffs.
Twisting Jim Mora’s comic rant on its ear, this is the time to talk about playoffs, and the New Westminster Hyacks are just happy it’s arrived.
The senior girls basketball team dominated its league brethren to the tune of 7-0, out-pointing them by 266 points in the process. The Hyacks averaged 70 points and limited the competition to 32 per game in the Burnaby-New Westminster league, with the closest margin of victory coming last week when Burnaby Central was the opponent in a 77-54 win.
Having peppered his schedule liberally with big-time tournament action, including the vaunted Centennial Top-10 last month, New West head coach Doug Woodward noted moving from league play to playoffs is always a challenge.
“It’s a mental challenge, more than anything,” Woodward said of the shift. “We’ll practise hard; that’s all we do... In practice I’ve got 90 minutes and I’ll run them. In a game like (Monday’s season finale) you get maybe 10 minutes (on the floor).”
The string of practices this week, on the heels of Monday’s 65-23 win over second-place Burnaby Mountain that locked up first overall, will be about fine tuning.
Point guard Sarah Forgie anticipates the road ahead for a berth to the B.C. tournament as anything but a cakewalk.
“I’m really, really hoping to get to provincials – everybody is, obviously. But it’s going to be hard,” the Grade 11 starter said. “It’s going to be hard for us to get in there. We have to work really hard at all the practices, but I think we can do it, though. I think if we can put our best effort out there, we’ll do it.”
Forgie has evolved into a leader on the team, not just in her on-court demeanor which runs opposing defences ragged. The slick ballhandler, who made a smooth adjustment to the senior level as a Grade 10 last year after playing a pivotal role in the junior Hyacks’ sixth-place provincial finish in 2015, says being a veteran on a team of best friends is a lot of fun.
“Last year it was just a lot of learning, learning all the plays and stuff like that. It was really fun; my sister (Emma) was on the team too, and I was friends with a lot of them. It was more of a fun year, and I was supporting them. Now I’m with my friends so I think I like this year better.”
The main focus from here on is to start the game with intensity.
“We know we have to get to the games and start out really quick, and that’s been one of our problems for us, that we start out flat,” she said. “We need to get in there and try and score as quick as possible and push it for the rest of the game.”
As talented as she is, Forgie’s best asset may be how she works with her teammates, says Woodward.
“She’s very good – (Forgie) can go in or outside. She’s the one who gets it going. She’s the director of the team and we need more like that. I can count on her taking the reins, pushing her teammates,” said Woodward.
On a roster of 15, with just three Grade 12s – Keja Davis, Sean He and Jamie Lee – chemistry and patience have been major building blocks as the players get comfortable with the coach’s defensive systems.
A lot of players bring leadership, said Forgie.
“We have a lot of leaders on this team, so no one really needs to be ‘the’ leader because all of us have a mutual understanding on what’s happening,” she said.
Woodward points to his two guards as a source of stability and star power.
“(Jamie Lee) and Sarah together are just incredible,” he noted. “(Lee) is the fastest we have. She’s good, and one of the best players we’ve got. Her and Sarah are almost identical; they work well together.”
It’s the work that will see how long the season lasts.
The Burnaby-New West league playoffs begin Monday, when No. 4 Cariboo Hill plays Moscrop, and Burnaby South takes on No. 3 Burnaby Central. On Tuesday, No. 2 Burnaby Mountain meets the Central-South winner at 5:15 p.m., while New West plays either Moscrop or Cariboo Hill at 6:45 p.m., both at NWSS.
The championship final goes Feb. 9 at 5:15 p.m. in New Westminster.
