Abby Zawada is thriving in a starring role with the surprising McMath Wildcats.
For the past two years, the Grade 11 guard provided valuable depth for a talented senior group that culminated an outstanding run by reaching the provincial championship game last spring. Now that players such as her sister Jessica, Bobbi-Jo Colburn and Jessica Jones have moved onto the university ranks, it’s Zawada’s turn to shine.
She collected MVP honours on the weekend as the Wildcats cruised to the girls title at Steveston-London’s Bob Carkner Memorial Classic. McMath has been a fixture in the provincial rankings in recent weeks and will be one of the favourites at next month’s Crehan Cup Lower Mainland “AAA” Championships. That’s quite remarkable given Zawada is one of just three players with any kind of experience at the senior level.
Grade 9 Liz Kennedy is giving her team valuable minutes in the paint, while Grade 11 Martha Melaku has become another reliable scoring option. Both were all-stars at the Carkner Classic, but, make no mistake, this is Zawada’s team.
The 5-foot-8 shooting guard’s smooth stroke makes her a constant threat from three-point range. She poured in 20 points in Saturday’s 66-30 championship game win over Kamloops’ Valleyview Vikings despite limited minutes in the second half.
“She played in the shadow of some of our star players but she was also practising with them all the time,” said Wildcats’ coach Anne Gillrie-Carre. “You can now see, given the opportunity, she probably could have done even more for us last year. “(Being the focal point of our offence) is the design of what we are doing but now we are trying to adjust as teams are playing a box-in-one on her. Now, we are trying to get her open off those things.”
Zawada improved her skills over the off-season, having a good idea what her workload might be. She could have dominated at the Grade 9 and 10 levels but wouldn’t trade her role with the senior team the last couple of seasons for anything. The opportunity to not only play with her sister, but to face elite competition on a regular basis only enhanced her game.
“It has helped me a ton,” she smiled. “I’m used to playing senior now and it’s just way different than junior. The pace of the game and being much more aggressive too.
“It’s a way different role for me because we had a lot of good seniors on our team last year. I now have to take the role of being a leader. It’s a lot different, but it’s going to be good.”
The former provincial U15 team member says she has worked on her perimeter game, ball handling and defence in preparation for her expanded role. Getting her Wildcats back to the provincials is the plan now.
“Hopefully, that is the main goal,” said the daughter of former Richmond Colt standout Andrew Zawada. “The year is definitely going better than expected.”
At the buzzer…
The Wildcats’ road to the Carkner title began with a 67-21 win over John Oliver, before taking care of league rival Cambie 62-38 in the semi-finals, led by 20 points from Melaku. They will get a much sterner test at the Burnaby South tournament this weekend.
Cambie bounced back to defeat Steveston-London 48-41 in the third place game.
The Wildcats used the opportunity of participating at the Bob Carkner Classic to call-up Grade 8 standout Kate Carkner — the granddaughter of the legendary Richmond educator and basketball coach, who passed away in 2009. She plays on McMath’s Grade 8 team that is coached by Carkner’s son Tim.
Kate is the second of Carkner’s grandchildren to play in the tournament. Natalie Carkner helped Riverside win back-to-back titles from 2011-12. Son Mike Carkner was a member of the Rapids’ coaching staff.
