Richmond’s McMath juvenile girls basketball team placed seventh in this year’s Grade 9 Basketball Provincial Championships.
The team competed against 15 other teams at the championships, which was held at Heritage Woods Secondary in Port Moody from Feb. 23 to 26.
McMath defeated defending champion Unity Christian from Chilliwack with a score of 39-35 in their opening game.
However, the team lost to Kelowna’s KLO and to Langley’s Brookswood in their second and third games, respectively.
While the Wildcats were missing key starters Aleah Kippan and Jessie Huang due to injuries, the team rebounded in a final game and defeated host school Heritage Woods 45-38 to claim the seventh spot in B.C.
Mirella Fernandes-Boshell was recognized as one of the tournament all-stars for excellent play in the tournament.
The team also included Ava Mirhosseini, Maya Araujo, Rachel Sanju, Lilyaunna Murray, Vera Bedi, Sanam Khani, Susu Zhang, and Soffia Arellano.
McMath’s basketball coach Jamie Kippan said the girls competed fantastically for a “team of players that did not have much basketball experience.”
He added that the Grade 9 cohort team was one of the “most impacted” by the loss of the sport season due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
“Many of these girls have not had any high school competition until this year as they lost their Grade 9 year to the pandemic restrictions and the cancellation of high school sports in the 2020-2021 school year,” he said.
Kippan said the juvenile girls team had an overall “fantastic season” with “remarkable accomplishments” despite the limited amount of time they had to play in the past couple of years.
