The Carpenter High School Senior ‘A’ girls basketball team did not disappoint the hometown fans this past weekend. CHS went 3-0 to win its home tournament held in Meadow Lake Friday and Saturday (Jan. 30 and 31). And, according to head coach Kendra Paramchuk, it was simply another example of the wave of momentum the team has been riding all season long.
“It was a little nerve-racking at first for our girls to play in front of friends and family, but once we got going, things came together,” Paramchuk said. In CHS’ first outing Friday afternoon, the team came up against the squad from Maidstone High. “We played Maidstone Friday, which is another team from the Northwest School Division,” Paramchuk continued. “We don’t normally get to play other schools from our division, so it was exciting. Maidstone is a 3A team in terms of its provincial category (CHS is a 4A squad). As you can see by the final score, we were very offensive in that game which was nice to see.”
CHS defeated Maidstone by a score of 64-10. Ezri Vidal was the top scorer for the Spartans with 10 points. Next up, CHS took on the team from Norquay School and again emerged victorious, this time by a score of 54-20. This encounter saw Jasmine Dubray as CHS’ top scorer with 12 points. “Norquay is a team we hadn’t played yet this season, but we had seen them at other tournaments,” Paramchuk said. “They are super feisty, but our girls held their own. We had a hard time scoring. We had opportunities, but just weren’t finishing as well underneath the hoop. But, we have a deep bench and were able to roll some lines to wear them down. We have the bodies, we have the talent and, eventually, we started to finish better and shoot well from the three-point line.”
In the final, CHS took on their rivals from John Paul II Collegiate in North Battleford. “We played JPII in the final of their home tournament, which was the first tournament of the season,” Paramchuk said. “We haven’t really matched up with them yet, and we were losing 12-9 after the first quarter. Again, we struggled with finishing underneath the hoop. The girls were a little nervous because there were so many local fans in attendance and they wanted to do well. We came out super excited, but started to close down on offence… Our girls chipped away, though, answering back on our end. And, with our deep bench, we were able to mix up the combinations. Our girls slowly crept away and, in the second half, held them off to allow us to come out on top.” The final score was 55-30 for CHS, with the top scorer for Meadow Lake being Anika Snodgrass with 11 points. “It’s exciting to win at home,” Paramchuk said. “A lot of work is involved in hosting a tournament, and it’s a little more stressful. But, it’s exciting to have everyone cheer for us. Each weekend we just keep getting better and better.”
In the coming weeks, the girls have some games potentially lined up in North Battleford but their next tournament is set for Feb. 27 and 28 in Melfort. “A big thank you to the fans and everyone who came out to cheer on the girls this past weekend,” Paramchuk concluded. Meanwhile, the CHS Senior ‘A’ boys basketball team was not in action this past weekend but is scheduled to return to the court this coming weekend (Feb. 6 and 7) in Prince Albert.