The McMath Wildcats got to see first hand just how deep and competitive the Fraser Valley region proved to be this season.
The young Wildcats closed out an impressive campaign with a 12th place finish at the B.C. “AAA” Girls Basketball Championships. They entered the 16-team tournament as the No. 9 seed thanks to a second place finish in the Lower Mainland tournament, however, it provided nothing in the way of an easier path.
McMath opened against the No. 8 Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers — the Cloverdale school that was the team to beat at the Fraser Valley Championships but was upset (85-83) by Abbotsford in the quarter-finals. The Panthers would not lose again. They won their remaining games to finish fifth at the Valleys then rolled to an 86-44 victory over McMath.
They ended their dominant run by avenging the earlier loss to Abbotsford with a 67-57 win in Saturday night’s championship game.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats turned their attention consolation play, defeating a tougher than expected Mt. Baker Wild team from Cranbrook, before falling to Vancouver champion Churchill 56-47 on Friday morning. They closed out the tournament Saturday afternoon with one final taste of Fraser Valley competition, this time dropping a 70-48 decision to Abbotsford’s Yale Lions.
The future is bright for this group. Only two players will be lost to graduation and just one starter — Mahara Gibson-Zeinoun — although they will certainly miss the guard’s athleticism and leadership.
Abby Zawada had a tremendous season and the city MVP is poised to be one of the top Grade 12s in the province next year.
Liz Kennedy will be remarkably entering her third-season at the senior level and plays with tremendous grit — well beyond her 5-foot-8 stature. Martha Melaku stepped in and established herself as another scoring threat, to compliment Zawada’s play. Grade 11 guards Jessica Porter and Jalen Donaldson showed their promise and are part of the Wildcats’ deep and athletic rotation. Dakota Chan, Morgan Flynn, Shania Faleiro, Allison Fast, Alyssa Azote and Alina Badyal round out the roster.
