Last year, the Grade 8 girls' basketball team rolled through league play and the playoffs before running into the AAA Argyle Pipers in the North Shore Final. This year, the same group of girls started their Grade 9 season in impressive fashion by winning the Silver Division of the Cap University Tournament.
As Grade 8's the team was fortunate enough to be coached by Diana Lee who played at Boise State and UBC. This year, the head coaching mantle has been taken up by Kadin Burnett. Kadin is a 2012 Collingwood grad who played for many years 'far above the rim' for some powerful Cavs' teams. Duncan Fraser is partnering with Kadin to provide a terrific one-two coaching punch.
Here is Coach Fraser's report:
The Cavs opened the tournament with a decisive win 40-15 over Sir Charles Tupper. The girls were rusty, but heads-up team offence and cutting, combined with solid defence, including quick switching, carried the day. Coach Burnett did a fine job of rotating his starters and drawing good contributions from his bench.
The Cavs followed this up with a 40-21 win over Burnaby South. The girls played a quality game – solid defence leading to lots of fast breaks and everybody taking care of the ball and making good decisions.
The team battled it out in a tough, no quarter given final, and beat STA 44-33. The girls were sharp and everyone contributed against a very polished STA team. The score doesn't reflect how tight a game it was – the lead went back and forth until Collingwood was up by one at the end of three quarters and the girls were comparing their bruises and scratches.
In the 4th quarter, Rachel Chete and Liz Matheson exerted themselves on defense and locked down STA's two best players, while Amy Uehara and Seli Edstrand pulled in rebounds and Sara Ndlovu-Fraser hit her stride and dropped 12 points.
Sara Ndlovu- Fraser 27 points 15 rebounds
Rachel Chete 10 points 8 rebounds
Liz Matheson 6 points 15 rebounds
Sara Ndluvo-Fraser in action in last year's playoffs.