It took a couple of close games and even a bit of overtime magic, but R.D. Parker Collegiate's senior girls' basketball team beat all challengers at the AAA high school provincials in Winnipeg March 15-17 to claim the title as the top team in Manitoba for the third time in the past four years.
The Trojans beat the University of Winnipeg Collegiate Wesmen 58-50 in overtime on St. Patrick's Day to claim the provincial championship. The teams were close through most of the game, tied at the end of the first and second quarters and RDPC behind by two to start the fourth, though they were down by as many as nine points in the third quarter. The Trojans tied the score 44-44 with about four minutes left and then built up a five-point lead, but the Wesmen battled back to tie the game and send it to overtime. The team didn't let the late comeback by their opponents affect them though, and outscored the Wesmen 9-1 in overtime to claim the championship title.
"It was tied for most of the game," said coach Christine Sim. "We were down for most of the game but then we came back usually and always tied it by the end of the quarter. Then we went into overtime for five minutes and buckled down."
RDPC had never won a senior provincial basketball title until 2015 when they finally claimed the crown after having lost in the finals the two previous years. They repeated as champions in 2016. The senior girls lost both their games at provincials last year after most of the members of the championship squads graduated, but the junior girls team won RDPC's second-ever junior varsity AAA girls' championship.
Sim, who was the coach of the champion junior team last year, said it helped to have players who had been to this stage before.
"I took four of the Grade 10s for that reason too because they've been there, they understand what they have to do," she said. "They're all good players, they all know each other, they've played together, most of them, for a couple of years so they knew each other really well."
The players who moved up to the senior squad this year also meshed well with the players who were already there.
"They just ended up working together and got comfortable with each other," said Sim, adding that the team went into the tournament with the mentality that they could win it all. "I think that it helped that they had played together before as well and a lot of them had been in the situation before at provincials whether it was the championship finals before that some of the seniors had won a couple years ago that were still on the team and then all the jayvees that had won last year."
The girls had a tough opening game at this year's tournament, beating the Lorette Collegiate Scorpions 64-61.
"It wasn't one of our best games, that for sure," Sim said about the opener, ascribing the closeness to nerves on the part of her players.
The Trojans then cruised to a berth in the final with an 81-39 victory over the Westgate Mennonite Collegiate Wings.
"That one was much better."
After claiming the title, the players were "ecstatic," said Sim.
"They're a pretty excited group of girls, that's for sure," the coach said. "Definitely lots of emotions, especially for the Grade 12s with it being their last year, it was a good way for them to go out."
Ashley Williams was named the tournament MVP, while Hannah Murdy was selected as a tournament all-star. Murdy and teammate Casey Singh are the only members of this year's team to have been on the roster for the 2016 championship.
The Trojan boys opened provincials with a 76-58 loss to the second-ranked Neelin High School Spartans, who went on to capture the championship. Their tournament ended with a 70-67 loss to the St. John's-Ravenscourt Eagles in the first round of the consolation playoffs.
