Junior girls hoops ready
The ADSS junior girl's basketball team is stacked with height and speed, and will be ready to roll this season.
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Updated: November 05, 2009 5:08 PM
The Alberni District Secondary School junior girls basketball team might only be in its second year of high school hoops, but there’s more to the team’s players than meets the eye.
More than 23 girls tried out for the team over the course of two weeks, and the roster has now been pared to 14, coach Greg Freethy said.
“Cutting players is the worst part of the job, but there’s only so much room,” he said.
Players will practice two to three times a week, and will concentrate on fundamental skills as well as offensive and defensive systems, Freethy said.
The team isn’t part of a league, so there won’t be regularly scheduled games. But they will be far from inactive. “We’ve got 25 games lined between now and January,” Freethy said.
There are seven Grade 9s and seven Grade 10s on the squad, so the team is building for now and next year.
Five of the girls stand nearly six feet tall, and the rest show speed and aggressiveness.
Forward Derion Alaire at five-foot-eight plays tough in the paint and can shoot. And during practice, guard Leah Hudson demonstrated a package of court vision, ball handling and speed.
“We’ve got all the pieces of the puzzle,” Freethy said.
Although a junior team, seven members already played a year of high school hoops and are ready to up their game.
Most of the girls played middle school ball, and came up through the now five-year-old Girls Friday Night Hoops league organized by local teacher Laurie Hudson.
“The players have good individual skills, so we’re not starting from square one,” Freethy said.
The Armada are hosting an eight-team tournament on Nov. 27, and teams from the north, mid and south Island as well as the Lower Mainland are confirmed.
Their first test, though, will come soon after at the Victoria Tip Off Classic, where some of the Island’s best teams will be competing.
“We’ll have a pretty good idea of where we stand at that one,” Freethy said.
This season marks Freethy’s return to coaching after a two-year hiatus to tend to being a father. He’s excited to be back.
“This looks like the rebirth of girls basketball in the Valley,” he said.
reporter@albernivalleynews.com
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