BARRHEAD - The Barrhead Junior Varsity (JV) Girls Gryphons basketball team did something that has only happened less than a handful of times in recent history.
On March 8, the Gryphons won the North Central Alberta Zone championships, wrapping up a tournament two-day, six-team tournament in Drayton Valley.
"This is only the fourth [JV girls] zone banner for BCHS in 25 years," said coach Garry Frederickson.
Going into the tournament, Frederickson, who coaches the team with his daughter and BCHS foods teacher Jessica Mayen, said many people might have considered the Gyphons underdogs going into the tournament.
Coming into the tournament, Barrhead was ranked third, which is surprising as the Gryphons did not start the season strong.
Which did not come as a big surprise to Frederickson given the squad's relative inexperience.
"We have a young team, " Frederickson said.
Teams can have players from Grades 10 to 12 at the junior varsity level. Of the 13-player roster, the Gryphons had 11 Grade 10 players and only two in Grade 11.
And while that isn't unusual, Frederickson said they had three or four come into the season totally cold, having not played the season before.
However, by February, he said the Gryphons had come together, playing some very good basketball, and went into the tournament on a roll, having not lost a game since Feb. 1, including winning a home tournament in
The Gryphons opened the tournament facing the 6th-ranked Whitecourt's Hilltop Chargers, defeating them 69-23. On the tournament's second day, Barrhead played the host Drayton Valley Holy Trinity Tigers, who went into the tournament as the second seed, beating them 50-30.
Earlier in the season, at a tournament hosted by the St. Mary Sharks at the Westlock Spirit Centre, the Tigers defeated the Gryphons soundly.
In the finals, Barrhead faced the top-seeded Edson Pacers and, once again, won in convincing fashion 62-25.
"These kinds of scores are unheard of," Frederickson said.
Going into the North Central Zone championships, the Gryphons knew that if they had any chance, they would have to play an aggressive style of defence as they did not match up physically with many teams.
"We are not small. We are tiny," he said. "This necessitated us playing a pressing style of defence designed to keep the other team off balance, so no matter how big of a team you may have, your players must handle the ball. Our press was pretty effective, and we got a lot of turnovers and steals because of it."
Frederickson has a long history of coaching the sport, serving as the coach of his first team in Saskatchewan in 1969.
He came to Barrhead in 2006, taking a position with the now-defunct Alberta Distance Learning Centre. Since then, Frederickson and his daughter have coached various girls age levels at BCHS, ranging from junior high to JV to Senior Girls.
"We are trying to build a program here, from the top down," Frederickson said.
He added that in the offseason, he has several things planned, such as shooting camps and three-on-three to league development to help the sport grow and develop.
Ideally, Frederickson said he would like to build a program similar to what Lou Rondeau, Rod Callihoo, and the rest of the coaching staff created a program that saw the Barrhead Boys Senior Gryphons win eight provincial championship banners from 2006 to 2021 and included 16 straight appearance provincial championship tournament appearances.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
