Grand Forks Secondary senior girls basketball team finished fourth at Kootenay A play-offs in Nakusp on Saturday. GFSS lost their opener to top seeded Fernie Falcons 42-26 despite eight points from Katrina Makortoff. Fernie, the top seeded team at the tournament and 9th ranked team in B.C. for single A, used pressure defence and aggressive play to get the victory.
In the third place game, the Wolves faced nearby rivals Boundary Central from Midway. GFSS had lost four times before to the Roadrunners including several times by more than 30. GFSS kept it close the whole game but struggled to score and eventually fell 51-48 in their last game of the season. Grade 10 guard Alyssa Makortoff led GFSS with 14 points.
“It’s been a tough season with having to merge the junior and senior players as one senior team,” said coach Craig Lindsay. “But these girls that stuck it out have been committed and worked hard and improved more than any team I’ve coached in 25 years.”
After losing their first 10 games by margins of 35 plus, the Wolves have had two wins over AA schools and three of their four losses were by five points or less.
“They’ve just made so many strides everywhere but particularly on defence where we’re 100 per cent better than we were two weeks ago,” said Lindsay. “Offensively we struggled a bit to score, but we passed well and did a good job getting open.”
