R.D. Parker Collegiate's junior varsity girls' basketball team will return to provincials to defend their Manitoba championship after winning the Zone 11 championship Feb. 26-27 in Flin Flon.

"The starting line has picked up their defensive game as well as their patience on offence while our first and second players off the bench played amazing over the weekend and have definitely showed great improvement," said Kristin Donovan, head coach of the girls’ team, which recorded round-robin victories of 64-12 over Oxford House, 74-12 versus Otter Nelson River School of Cross Lake and 54-8 over Frontier Collegiate Institute of Cranberry Portage. "Everybody played defence and it was a blast to watch five girls working together towards a greater goal after three long months of practice. The girls on the bench cheered their loudest and contributed to the energy that was seen on the floor such that I could barely hear myself think."

The first five minutes of the final game were low-scoring, with RDPC only up 5-2 against Margaret Barbour Collegiate Institute of The Pas.

"A quick time-out was called and the girls went out to make a statement, finishing the quarter with a score of 25-5," said Donovan. "The Pas didn't back down but our girls were determined to prevail, and that they did. I have an amazing group of ladies this year that have been a blast to work with, and they have challenged me as a coach to help them be better and to make our team better. I was very proud of all the girls, as every single girl scored, got at least one defensive stop, and one fast-break opportunity, telling me that I have 15 girls who are going to practise hard to better themselves in preparation for provincials in two weeks."

The boys team lost to MBCI 80-76 in the semifinals.

"We played real hard but came up short in the end," said coach Wes Braun. "We did play our best game of the year in the semifinal but The Pas team also played their best. It was a fun game to coach. I think The Pas will do a great job representing Zone 11. I think they have a good chance of winning a medal at provincials."

The boys beat Hapnot Collegiate Institute of Flin Flon by four points in the round-robin and lost by nine points to MBCI.

"The girls were dominant as usual," said Braun. "They are looking strong and are still improving. I wouldn't be surprised if they repeated."