Richmond Christian stole the show at the senior girls basketball tournament at Chatelech Secondary School last weekend. But the local teams also fared well, showing improvement in every game.
Chat hosted the six-team tournament that was played in a round-robin format allowing all teams five games over two days.
Richmond went 5-0, followed by Pemberton and King George with 3-2 records. Elphinstone was fourth with a 2-3 record, finishing in a tie with Alpha at 2-3, while Chat finished sixth with a 0-5 record.
"The Chatelech girls' basketball skills experienced explosive growth over the weekend tournament," said coach Susan Telfer. "Those watching said there was a night and day difference between their play in the beginning and at the end of the weekend. Although they came last, they lost three of their games by only two or three points in the last minutes of the game, including their games with second and third ranked Pemberton and King George. As they have had a rookie coach this year, their tournament performance was exceptional for this small team and an improvement over last year's results," she said.
Telfer said star players of the weekend were Andrea Palmer, Lindsay Dybwad, Noah Mithrush and Destiny Lemarquand.
"The girls themselves said they have found their strength," she added.
Chat athletic director Quinn Campbell said he was pleased with the tournament, calling the event successful.
"I think all the teams had a lot of fun," Campbell said. "Early on the coaches had to adapt to the format and all the coaches were looking for every advantage to be successful, but I think they liked the format. It certainly meant lots of playing time for everyone."
Elphi coach Lynn Moran said she was pleased with her team's effort and also praised Chat for their noticeable improvement.
"It was a good tournament for us," Moran said. "I was really pleased with the effort, especially defensively. We were really strong in the two/three zone and pressured the ball. Chat really improved and got better and better as the games went on. That was certainly not the same team we played earlier in the year."
Moran credited Addy Fearnley, Kendra Pomfret, Tanis Borley and Stephanie Hood for strong efforts during the weekend.
"Addy was a force all weekend long. She played the post, fought for rebounds and was great on the boards," Moran said. "She's just starting in the post and is phenomenal getting rebounds. She gets position and reads the play well."
