Julia Marshall is the latest member of the esteemed Brookswood Bobcats senior girls basketball program to land with the Trinity Western Spartans.
The graduating senior at Brookswood Secondary will stay in Langley and suit up for the Spartans in 2016/17 and will be the third player from the Bobcats program on the TWU roster in the fall.
“I’m excited about the chance to go to TWU in my hometown and to play with some former Brookswood alumni,” Marshall said. “I’m very much looking forward to being a Spartan.”
The five-foot-five point guard was named the top defensive player at the B.C. senior girls 3A provincial basketball championships as the ’Cats captured the gold medal.
She averaged 14 points , five rebounds and six steals a game during her senior season.
“Julia is a great athlete and will complement and challenge all of our guards the moment she steps into our gym,” said TWU coach Cheryl Jean-Paul.
“She was able to attend our April camp last spring and we saw a fire in her, both in her testing results and her on-court performance, while also exhibiting the desire to improve herself and constantly grow.
“There were parts of her game that were missing last season and under the watchful eye of her high school coach Neil Brown, she came back from her off-season with the ability to knock down threes and become the scoring threat that her team required for them to earn another provincial championship. That has just added to her defensive intensity, her ability to create for others and play up-tempo basketball.”
“TWU is getting a good shooter, a good dribbler, a good passer and a great defender. I am very confident that after a short introduction period, Julia will be a regular contributor to the Spartans climb to the top,” Brown said.
Marshall was one of four new players signed by Jean-Paul last week (March 24).
Other incoming freshman include Grace Guderyan (Calgary), Teanna Bradshaw (Pickering, Ont.) and Juliet King (Duncan). All three are forwards.
Guderyan is coming off an impressive season in which her St. Francis High School team captured the Alberta 4A provincial championship. The 5-foot-10 forward helped St. Francis to a 9-1 league record, a city championship and the provincial title.
“Grace is a tenacious defender and is capable of creating great plays for her team by working hard off ball, rebounding and doing the little things that every team needs to be successful,” Jean-Paul said.
“She has played whatever role was required of her with a great team sense and that mindset is only going to make us better. We are looking forward to having her join our program and helping us become more competitive. Over the last few seasons we have added several athletes with great high school championship experiences and Grace’s vision for helping her team achieve that in Alberta is a great asset to our program.”
“I was drawn to TWU because of the excellent athletic and academic opportunities that it provided,” said Guderyan, who plans to study human kinetics. “After my experience at the preview weekend, I knew this team and the school would be the perfect fit for my post-secondary career.”
“Grace was a key piece to helping our team win both the provincial and city championships,” said St. Francis coach Claire Mitton.
“Her defensive strength anchored the team while on the floor. Her calm yet competitive presence was always a positive factor. Grace is willing to put the time and effort into her game and she is a fantastic teammate and person.”
Bradshaw joins the Spartans after graduating in 2015 from O’Neill Collegiate and Vocational Institute.
In her final year, the six-foot-forward averaged seven points and 10 rebounds.
“Teanna brings athleticism, rebounding and a scorer’s mindset to our inside game,” Jean-Paul said. “We are excited by her competitiveness and her ability to take information, process it and apply it.
“We will now be able to develop a low block, back to the basket presence to our roster and will see what that will allow our forwards and shooters to accomplish with such a threat inside. We have been working undersized for the past few seasons and it will be exciting to expand certain parts of our game.
“With Teanna’s success at the club level in Ontario and her focus on preparing herself for the CIS game, we look forward to having her join our program.”
“Trinity Western is a place of opportunity. I have chosen to attend this university because it will not only give me the opportunity to grow as an athlete, but it will also give me a chance to grow in my faith. Turning down an opportunity like this would be crazy,” Bradshaw said.
King will give the Spartans another inside presence as she stands six-foot-one.
She is in Grade 12 at Duncan Christian and helped the school become a regular at the provincial championships.
This past year, she was named a second team all-star at the B.C. 1A senior girls championships.
“Juliet is going to be a great addition to our program,” Jean-Paul said.
“She has a rebounding ability that will help our team on both ends of the floor and having a big who is ready to board and block shots in the key is something we’ve been missing since Corina Reimer. Juliet has a big heart to match her big wingspan and having her join our community and lead by example as she has in her school will be a great encouragement to all of our athletes in their development as servant leaders.”
“I am attending Trinity Western University not only because of the basketball program, but also because I felt this school was the perfect fit for me,” King said.
“After I had spent a weekend on campus, I knew this was where God was calling me to be.”
“Jules is a difference maker. Whether on the court using her skills or off the court with her bubbly personality, she strives to become better and in doing so makes a positive impact on whomever she’s with.
It’s been a blessing to see her grow into such a leader.”
