TWILLINGATE - Provincial champs!
For the girls' team at J.M. Olds Collegiate, it was the first time ever that a provincial girls' basketball title had been won for the school - they are the Provincial Girls 'AA' Basketball Champs for 2008-09.
The title had come as a result of the Tigers beating out the team from Stella Maris Academy of Trepassey in a 72-55 decision on March 21. In a provincial tournament that had eight teams competing, the Tigers actually had little problem until they reached the championship.
In their division, the Tigers easily took care of teams from Random Island, Plum Point and Robinsons, outscoring each with a margin of some 25 points. Then in the crossover versus Belanger Memorial, the host team at Doyles, the Tigers, according to teacher sponsor Scott Simms, socked it to them with "about a 50-point spread."
"We essentially walked over the opposition in the round robin," said Simms. "The only team at the tournament that was anywhere close to the calibre of our team was the team we met in the championship from Stella Maris. At the halfway point they were leading 34-33."
It was at that point that the long experience of coach Winston Jenkins paid off. Jenkins has been coaching girls' basketball at JMOC for some 32 years (and in a voluntary capacity). He noticed that the Stella Maris team had a starting lineup equal to that of the Tigers as the score at half-time reflected, but in his estimation there was not the depth on their bench that he enjoyed with the JMOC squad.
So, in the second half he directed his girls to really run the other team to exhaustion, to the point where they would become tired and frustrated and be more subject to committing fouls on the court. And it worked. But so did the fouls mount up for the Tigers. Four of his starting lineup had four each and another was fouled out of the game (with five fouls a member is automatically out). It was true, the other team just didn't have the depth resulting in the Tigers running almost unchecked over their opposition and earning a final score of 72-55.
At a special rally for the team at JMOC on March 24 Simms praised the coach and the team but also paid reference to the support given by parents.
"At the banquet, it was easy to see the support given to our team," said Simms. "Each team had one table set aside for members and their support - all except ours. We had three tables with some 29 in attendance. That's where the team gets its strength and that's where the success of this school gets its strength - from the parents and community support. It's absolutely incredible."
At the rally, the team raised their banner to the rafters. There, it joined six other provincial banners won over the past two years by Tigers and became an integral part of the success that the sports programs has experienced in that period.
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