Thompson’s JRB girls’ basketball program had a pair of teams in the 14-and-under division at the Basketball Manitoba club provincials in Winnipeg May 11-14, with the black squad winning all of its games to claim the championship while the white squad went winless in the season’s final tournament.
The difference between the club provincials and tournaments earlier in the season, when the Thompson teams didn’t do as well, is something that Aarti Ghai, 14, chalks up to the players knowing each other better by now.
“We’ve been with each other the whole year,” said Ghai, who just finished her second year in the 14-and-under division. “We all know each other really well and we all know each other’s strengths and each other’s weaknesses. In Swan River [earlier in the season] we played the Brandon Junior Bobcats and then we played them again at provincials and they were all really close games so I think when we played the teams we knew what we had to do better.”
Fourteen-year-old Emma Tomchuk was another of the second-year players on the championship-winning black team.
“I was kind of worried but I knew we could do it,” she says of her feelings prior to the final against the Junior Bobcats black squad, which Thompson won handily by a score of 59-25. Tomchuk also credits familiarity with the team’s improvement from the beginning of the season.
“We knew each other more,” she says, calling the final game one of her best and identifying balance as one of the black team’s strengths. “I hit a couple of shots [in the final] and everybody was happy to play. Everybody had the chance to score. Everybody scored during the tournament.”
Sophie Murdy, 13, was in her first year in the 14-and-under division and says that she was somewhat confident before the final game but still nervous during it despite her team being well ahead.
“I thought we had a pretty good chance,” she said. “I wasn’t really saying we were going to, I was just thinking maybe. I was really nervous [during the final] just in case they were going to come back but I was really happy when all the girls were getting excited. It wasn’t really close at all. It felt really good to win.”
Kassidy Morin, 12, was on the white team at club provincials but says the season was enjoyable despite the way it ended for her squad.
“It was harder than I thought,” she said of the provincials. “The other team won the provincials so we didn’t. I was kind of jealous that the other team won.”
One of the hardest games of the tournament was when the two Thompson teams squared off against each other, with the black team winning 29-14.
“When we played white team against the black team I tried my hardest probably in that game,” Morin admits. “I probably should have tried harder against the other teams from different cities but I didn’t.”
Despite the rivalry between the Thompson teams, Morin says the black team winning provincials was probably the season highlight.
“For Thompson to win provincials is probably the best thing,” Even though I was on the other team I was still glad they won.”
