The Junior A Girls Basketball team had a fun and successful season this year.
I had the pleasure of coaching the Junior A Girls Basketball team this year. These girls were an extremely quality team who accomplished some impressive achievements. The girls showed massive potential at the start of the season and after a few trainings they were soon whipped into winning shape- and that’s what they did, win, win and continue to win; growing with every game. We had a solid team of 9 girls and then we gained an ex- Otago Girls' student, Shania. She proved to be a massive asset to our already strong team. From then on these girls were almost unstoppable, our only competition were Bayfield. We couldn't quite get a win on these guys, but we continued to work hard at trainings.
Along the way we had the help of our call-in assistant coach Sarah Wilson, who brought her Basketball knowledge and enthusiasm, which I know the girls appreciated a ton.
The girls made the semi-final of the Y10 A grade playing OGHS. I’d like to say it was an intense and hard fought game, but in all honestly the girls pushed to a convincing lead from the beginning, to win 55-22.
With final fever we chucked in an extra training to prepare to beat our rivals Bayfield. All the girls worked hard and pushed themselves to be final-ready.
Soon enough finals night arrived and we gained 10 if not 15 new cheerleaders to support the girls in their pursuit of greatness. The match began and the first points were made by Bayfield. We quickly scored our first basket, but Bayfield brought their A game and pulled away to an early lead, leaving us a bit rattled. We fought hard, but weren't quite able to catch up. The girls earned a solid 2nd place in their competition- I might add, they were the only Logan Park team to make a final this year! I’m extremely proud of the effort and passion these guys put into this season of basketball.
I can’t continue this article without saying a massive thank you to the exceptional group of parent supporters. We would've been lost without them, they were always at games on the bench cheering on the girls- these guys were amazing, I couldn't have done it without them.
After our normal season of school basketball, the girls got the opportunity to represent LPHS at the Junior Secondary Schools Tournament held in Dunedin, running over 3 days. We had the opportunity to play teams from all over the South Island. It was a pretty big transition for the girls, but they did really well and held their own. During the tournament, the girls improved individually and as a team. These guys have been a pretty amazing team to coach; it’s been a really fun season and the girls have progressed so much. I wish them all the best for their baller futures!
Team list: Erica Stedman, Tayla Ward, Emma Hamilton, Shania Quinn, Nakita Reihana, Kate Denys, Sydney Mowat, Shylo Moana, Rythm Te-Paa- Moana, Matilda Macandrew, and Maria Larsen (tournament only).
