The St. Michaels University School Blue Jags have resided in the top echelons of the BC high school girls’ basketball scene for a number of years now. But late Saturday (Mar. 1) afternoon in Langley, they experienced the ultimate feeling of climbing the ladder and cutting down the net.
After finishing a very close second the past two seasons and third the year before, this talented and determined group of Blue Jags captured the school’s first ever BC Senior Girls basketball title, beating the Holy Cross Crusaders of Surrey 62-54 in the AA Championship Game under the bright lights of the Arena Bowl Court at the Langley Events Centre.
“It was just magic for everybody, to be honest,” said Blue Jags Head Coach Lindsay Brooke, who has built a hoops powerhouse at SMUS. “Winning a blue banner [for a BC title] – that’s what we talk about all the time . . . You just want it so badly for the players.”
It was indeed a beautiful moment for a group which has spent hours in the gym preparing for the opportunity to storm the court, wrapping each other and their families in victorious hugs and then each taking the scissors, ascending the aluminum ladder and cutting out their own piece of hoops history after Saturday’s win at the LEC was in the books.
Nobody deserved this magic moment more than Avery Geddes, the sterling Grade 12 point guard who was named both player of the game in the final and MVP for the entire BC AA tournament. Geddes, who will play at the University of Victoria beginning next season, was huge in the championship game with 26 points and a number of assists as she capably steered the Blue Jags’ offence and handled the second-half traps of Holy Cross.
“Avery was locked in,” said Brooke of her daughter, who accomplished the same feat that Brooke did as a Grade 11 point guard for Spectrum, leading her team to a provincial title in 1995.
A number of other stars shone brightly for the Blue Jags on Saturday as well, including standout guard Charlie Anderson, who shook off two early fouls to score 13 points and earn a BC tournament first-team all-star selection. Forward Olivia Pickering was also a key, playing tremendous defence, rebounding and earning first-team all-star honours herself with 11 points and some key boards in the final.
“This feels amazing,” Brooke said of the win. “Honestly, it is a bit surreal at the moment. But it’s totally awesome as well.”
The Blue Jags cruised into the 16-team tournament’s championship game with three lopsided victories, beating Nechako Valley of Vanderhoof 79-28 in their tournament opener on Wednesday before downing Pacific Academy of Surrey 72-28 in a Thursday quarterfinal. They locked up their third straight berth in a BC championship game with a 55-22 decision over Britannia of Vancouver on Friday night.
But Saturday’s game was a different story. Holy Cross entered the tournament ranked No. 1 by virtue of a lopsided win over SMUS in January, when illness plagued the Blue Jags. The Crusaders posed a tough challenge, boasting size and skill, and scoring over 80 points in each of their first three BC tournament games. Holy Cross and SMUS had split two previous games this season, with the Blue Jags winning the first handily. In fact, SMUS sat at No. 1 in the provincial rankings all year until its loss to Holy Cross, after which the Blue Jags fell to No. 2.
So, the two combatants in the final were familiar with each other. And the Blue Jags were well prepared.
“We just went in thinking we can’t give up fast-break baskets, we can’t turn the ball over and we can’t give up open threes,” Brooke said. “We managed to stick to our game plan. We were dialed in defensively and we shot the ball better ourselves than we had all tournament. That was nice.”
Holy Cross came out firing in Saturday’s final, leading by 7-2 and 16-11 margins early. But some artful substitutions by Brooke – bringing in Grade 10s Mikaela Dubé and Elspeth Rodger to counter the Crusaders’ size and insert more scoring threats at the rim – helped turn the tide. The Blue Jags rallied to tie the game at 18-18 by the end of the first quarter and then utilized their stifling defence to grab a 30-26 lead by the half.
Back-to-back three-pointers by forward Isabela Herrera Orduna and Geddes staked SMUS to a 10-point lead at the beginning of the third quarter and, although Holy Cross stormed back to tie it at 43-43 late in the period, another Geddes three with 17 seconds left in the frame gave the Blue Jags a 46-43 lead heading into the fourth.
Over the frantic final quarter, the Jags bent but did not break as they maintained a lead for the entire 10 minutes. Pickering was instrumental in the quarter, finishing some nice feeds from Geddes and Joss Olcen and then hitting two free throws with 2:40 remaining that put SMUS up eight and in control. The Crusaders could get no closer than six points the rest of the way as the Blue Jags made just enough free throws to maintain their cushion. Olcen was also a significant factor down the stretch with some key defensive rebounding.
Brooke said the team’s experience over the last three seasons helped as the Blue Jags didn’t get rattled with the biggest game of the year on the line.
“People were asking: ‘How does this feel after the heartbreak of the past couple of years?’,” Brooke said. “I got over the heartbreak pretty fast, actually. But I’m just so pleased today for all these players to have this experience of winning the big game, especially with a lot of them in their senior year. It’s amazing.”
Tournament Coverage - by permission of VarsityLetters.ca
- Day 1- SMUS 79 - Nechako Valley 28 - by Howard Tsumura
- Day 2- SMUS 72 - Pacific Academy 28 - by Dan Kinvig
- Day 3 - Semifinal: SMUS 58 - Britannia 22 - by Gary Kingston
