INNISFAIL - The CENAA junior high girls' basketball team at Innisfail Middle School is on a golden high.
"We won gold at the league championships," said Tina Chadwick, head coach. "We finished second in the league at the end of the regular season."
The Chinook's Edge North Athletic Association (CENAA) championship tournament was held in Red Deer on March 4. They defeated …cole Camille J Lerouge School to take the gold medal.
This year, the team included players in grades 7,8 and 9, noted Chadwick, adding this season was the first time the team has won gold. They took home silver in last year's finals.
"The (gold medal) game was a ton of fun to watch. The girls were playing really good basketball," said Chadwick. "They came together so well as a team and they played to win and they did."
Other coaches this year included Debbie Penner and high school student, Kayla Schaedeli, who also helped lead this season.
The season began in November and finished in late February, said Chadwick, adding there were 12 girls on the team this year, including several first-time players.
During the finals tournament the team took games 1, 2 and 3 before winning the gold medal.
Losing only one game all season, Chadwick noted some key strengths of the team that helped them reach the top.
"Their desire to win, their ability to play as a team and really communicate out on the court," she said, noting the team's strong defence. "Penner and I tend to build the girls defensively first. We get them pretty tight on defence. That's our first strategy.
"We built a strong defensive team and they were a fast team," she added.
The junior high girls' basketball team can be happy to claim a first gold medal, said Chadwick.
"We loved coaching those girls. They're pretty proud of what they've done," Chadwick concluded.
Tina Chadwick, head coach
"They came together so well as a team and they played to win and they did."
