Senior Girls at SLHS playing high calibre B-ball

Nov 12, 2009

 Sharbot Lake Panthers Senior Girls basketball team. Front row l-r: Nicole Domen, Tiffany Carmichael, Rachel Neadow, Sarah Armstrong, Dana Mika. Back row l-r: Mr. Wes Garrod, Kaitlyn Wilkes, Courtney Meeks, Sarah McCullough, Sami Stencill, Mr. Mike Smith. Photo courtesy of SLHS

When the Sharbot Lake Panthers beat the LCVI Lancers 36-21 in early October, it was the first time in over eight years that the Sharbot Lake senior girls basketball team has won a game.

With only 200 students in grades 9 through 12, Sharbot Lake is smallest school in the KASSAA league, so it's easy to understand why scoring a win has been elusive.

But this year the team and their coaches Mike Smith and Wes Garrod made a point of ending that eight-year losing streak and actually decided that they would win a game. In fact winning one was just one of their set goals for this year. Scoring in the double digits at every single game and playing a full game at each contest were their other two main objectives this year and they not only accomplished all three goals, they even went beyond. On November 5 at their last league game of the season, the lady Panthers beat Napanee 44-38 and so ended up winning two.

That last win was an important one for the team and though they still came short of qualifying for the upcoming playoffs (they finished in a tie for 10th place), they are more than confident heading into the EOSSAA Championships, which will pit them against five other triple A schools in the region.

As I got to know the team’s coaches and players last Thursday on their home court, it became apparent that this year’s wins were not mere flukes. Rather, this kind of high calibre play has been in the works for the last three years since Mike Smith has been coaching the team.

Smith explained, “We have been slowly building up a culture here of high calibre play. It’s been developing since the players were in grades 9 and 10. This year I think it just all came together.”

Mike explained that that high calibre play consisted of putting two main key systems in place: playing a 2-3 zone on defense and playing a 4 out perimeter offence. He said, “The team is made up of a great group of athletes who were extremely quick to pick up those systems.”

Joined this year by assistant coach Wes Garrod, the two coaches this spring decided to run a spring camp for the team to give the girls a chance to play more ball during the year. Smith explained that many players from other school teams play club ball during the year and so have more opportunities to hone their skills.

Of the spring camp Smith said, “It was amazing to see how much the girls improved after those five practices.”

Part of the team’s success lies in the very positive and close relationships among the players. This team is made up of an extremely close and cohesive bunch of girls who have not only developed individually as players over the years, but have also gelled into a caring, close-knit group of friends who have a great time every single time that they play together on the court.

I spoke to the players after their 44-38 home win against Napanee on November 5, where they maintained a 10-point lead almost throughout and asked them how they felt about their league play this season.

Dana Mika explained, “We were really close to making the playoffs this year. At our last game against QECVI we lost by three points with three of our players missing. If we had won that one, we would have tied for eighth and had a chance at the playoffs.”

Regarding their cohesion as a team, Sarah Armstrong stated, “We’re all good friends, which really helps on the court, and we have a good time, which makes a huge difference in the way we play.”

Dana Mika added, “We go into a lot of these games against much bigger schools sometimes knowing that we aren’t necessarily going to win but we still give it our all.”

The players paid tribute to their two coaches, whom they described as both “very encouraging and very positive.”

Coming off a win is a great way to go into the EOSSA tournament and coaches Smith and Garrod are extremely proud of their team. Smith admitted, “Throughout the year opposing coaches and the referees have commented on how well the team is playing, really very humbling. He added, “We feel great for the girls. They’ve put a lot of time into improving their game and it’s great that they get to hear that from other people besides us.”

The EOSSAA Championships takes place November 18 and 19 at Rideau District High School in Elgin and the Panthers are hoping to make it to the second round of the championships.