The Alberni Armada finished fourth at the Vancouver Island Senior Girls AA basketball championships on the weekend.
The Armada beat Pacific Christian 50–47 on Saturday morning at the Mark Isfeld Secondary gym in Courtenay. That put them into the bronze game against Royal Bay. They lost 72–50 to place fourth in the province.
“The score does not show how competitive the game was,” coach Ryan Broekhuizen said.
“We were up 16–6 in the first quarter and down by three at the half. They had a big bench of 14 players; our nine gave it their all.”
Laurel Davidson hit some huge three-pointers in the bronze medal game to give the Armada a big lead. Her effort earned her a tournament all-star spot.
“We ran out of gas and foul trouble kept a few of our starters on the bench.
“All the girls gave huge contributions that helped us with all of our success,” coach Broekhuizen said. “We couldn’t have done what we did without all of our nine players.
“A huge thank you also goes to my assistant coach Dennis Bill for everything he did for the team this year.”
The Armada won their first game of the Islands, beating Lambrick Park 50–47 on Thursday.
They faced Saint Michaels University school of Saanich (SMU), the No. 1 ranked team on the Island, in the semifinals Friday night, but lost 70–43. That put them into the bronze medal game against Pacific Christian School on Saturday morning.
Abby Broekhuizen had a three-pointer against Pacific Christian when the Armada were down by one point with a minute left. That put Alberni up by two points.
Point guard Memphis Dick, coming back from an injury had her best game of her shortened season, scoring 19 points.
The Island championships signaled the end of the high school hoops season for the girls. “We are the fourth best AA senior girls basketball team on Vancouver Island and that is a huge accomplishment for this little town,” Broekhuizen said.
“Our Grade 12s Bree Anderson, Laurel Davidson, Kylie Scott and Karlie Irg made it to the Island championship all four years in their high school basketball careers, which is quite a feat,” Broekhuizen said. “They will be missed next season.”
Broekhuizen said the senior girls had a solid season. They were undefeated going into their home Totem 63 tournament in January.
“We were competitive with the best teams on the Island and always played hard every game. I am a very proud coach,” he added.
With nearly half of his team graduating at the end of the year, Broekhuizen will see half of his team turn over in the 2018-19 season. He’s not worried.
“I got a good glimpse of next season’s starters with our returning players, Abby Broekhuizen, Hannah Potter, Memphis Dick, Amina Moussa and Catherine Thompson playing some strong minutes this weekend against some older, more experienced players,” he said.
“I look forward to continuing our training this spring to start preparing for next year.”
ARMADA PLAYERS CHOSEN FOR ISLAND ALL-STAR GAME
The senior girls’ high school basketball season may be over for the Alberni Armada, but Bree Anderson and Kylie Scott will continue to practice in preparation for the Island All-star Classic.
The North vs. South all-star classic will see 24 of the best players in single, double and triple A girls basketball compete. All the coaches on Vancouver Island choose the Island all-star teams.
Broekhuizen will coach the North team alongside Isfeld Ice coach Ken Erickson.
