In BCSSAA play yesterday, the article (which appeared in Wednesday's paper) nearly rang true.The Senior BCI Mustangs gave CWOSSA #1 St. John's all they could handle before falling by 10 points (54-44).
The 'Stangs actually led 35-26 at half and by 4 points (44-40) after three quarters, but the fresh legs of the Green Eagles were too much in the 4th.
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Article By: Brian Smiley
Through the first half of the Brant County high school senior girls basketball season, the Brantford Collegiate Institute Mustangs were riding high.
Now that the second half of their campaign is underway, the team's coaches are hoping the momentum continues to carry the team to great heights.
“We're happy,” said coach Ron Jamula, whose team was 4-2 heading into a late game on Thursday night against the first-place St. John's College Green Eagles (6-0). “We have seven kids who played last year and two new players.
“The upside should be huge, if we reach our potential. Our goal is to get to the final and then you take your shot.”
BCI is certainly on track to get into the post-season and, possibly, the final, where anything can happen.
The Mustangs were looking to build on a 2012 season that saw them finish fourth and get eliminated in the playoffs by St. John's College.
The coaches kept nine of 11 players who tried out for the team this season. So, BCI, which has solid players, will be challenged with a short bench.
With most teams carrying 10-12 players, it may be hard for the Mustangs to keep up in some games. But Jamula said it's up to the coaches to put players in positions to succeed.
“I think it's just kind of the sign of the league this year,” BCI's coach said.
“Us and North Park are similar in the sense that we don't have a lot of players. We have six to seven kids with basketball experience and the other two with not so much.
“We have to pick our places to make sure people get into games where they can be successful. That's a challenge, for sure, with only nine bodies.”
With more wins than losses this season, the team has obviously done a good job. However, Jamula said he knows the second half will be tougher.
In the first half, BCI scored one-point wins against both Assumption College and North Park Collegiate. But on Tuesday, NPC handed BCI a lopsided loss.
“We were lucky to beat Assumption,” Jamula said of the team's first meeting against the Lions. “We didn't play very well.
“We played decent against North Park and won by one. I don't think we've played our best yet and we'll have to in the second half.”
With seven seniors — of whom four are starters — on this year's roster who played on the 2012 team, the Mustangs should have the experience to get through the second half in good shape.
The main thing will be how well the players’ fitness holds up.
“Fitness is a bit of an issue for us,” said Jamula. “We have to maintain our fitness. And, when we're playing at such a high pace that St. John's plays at, and North Park to a certain extent, we have to be able to withstand that.”
Jamula and his assistants also run the junior program. He said it makes things easier to be involved with both teams.
“No. 1 we wanted to develop the program,” he said.
“But, No. 2, because we had lower numbers at senior a lot of times, in order to run a decent practice, if we practice the juniors and seniors together, we always have enough numbers to do what we need to do.”
Jamula said BCI's strength is in its forwards, particularly fifth-year player Rachel Adkins. Other key players for the Mustangs this season have included Lexi Lancaster at forward, Bailey Vachon and Jenna Schonbacher at guard and forward/guards Summer Sakaluk and Victoria Waud.
The Mustangs will need their entire roster at its best.
“Our goal is to peak at playoff time and then see what we can do,” said Jamula.
Retrieved From: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2013/10/10/high-school-girls-basketball-upside-huge-for-mustangs
