WESTLOCK – The R.F. Staples Thunderbirds Senior Girls basketball team is becoming a powerhouse, recently securing their third consecutive zone championship.
Coach Wade Hicks, who has been coaching the team for six years, said the wins are a significant breakthrough after being shut out of the provincials for decades.
“Three years ago when we first won zones, that was the first time in like 54 years that the team had been to provincials but now we have rattled off a few. We got that monkey off our back now and the girls, in the province of Alberta, have been provincially ranked.
“We got the program in the right direction,” he added. “I don’t see us faltering a whole lot going forward and I return 10 players to the team next year.”
Following their zone victory, the Thunderbirds travelked to Sylvan Lake this past weekend for the provincial tournament. They lost their first game to Medicine Hat by a narrow four-point margin and fell to Camrose in their second game by just two points.
“We were in all our games,” said Hicks. “They were really competitive and the girls really played well.”
The first game was against Medicine Hat who was ranked number 7 in the province and the Thunderbirds were ranked number 10 in the province.
“That game ended 54 to 50. We played really well in that game. I was impressed. We got down early but the kids never stopped playing and we came back and had our chances at the end so that’s all you can really ask for.”
Their second game was against Camrose, who was similar to the Thunderbirds, said Hicks.
“Last time we played Camrose we beat them by two and this time around Camrose beat us by two.”
The provincial tournament provided valuable experience for the team, said Hicks.
“We were happy to get back there again and it was great experience for those young kids. It’s a little bit of an eye opener for them. We played ball, we played well down there and we will take all that experience and move on to next year and hope it helps out.”
Hicks has been coaching basketball for 28 years and credits the team’s success to a combination of excellent players and their commitment to his system.
“I have been doing it for a while and I lucked out, I got some really good athletes. The thing that has been really good with the kids that I have I got to coach is they really buy into what I’m teaching them and that makes a huge difference. If they weren’t buying into what I’m teaching them and how I want to play we wouldn’t be having any success. These athletes have bought into what I brought to the table and are playing the way I would like to see them play basketball. It’s been working for us.”
Looking ahead to the off-season, Hicks said the team will focus on skill development.
“We start a little bit of club basketball in the spring but our club basketball is pretty laid back. We only run for six weeks. We literally do one practice a week and one game a week. It’s really laid back. I prefer the kids to get out and do other things rather than just play basketball so we don’t push them quite as hard for spring basketball but it keeps the basketball in their hands and they continue to work on their skills a little bit more.”
After the club season ends in early June, the team will take a break before gearing up for next year’s season.
