Junior basketball - Hawks A Girls defeat Pandas

Jr. A Hawks vs Dragons
C. Davis photos and video

Chris Davis, Sports

Matthew Halton School's Junior A Girls Hawks basketball team hosted their Crowsnest Pass Pandas counterparts on Tuesday evening, January 14.

The Hawks established a lead early in the first quarter but the game was tied 8-8 going into the second, which was another high energy effort from both teams, ending 16-12 in the Hawks' favor at the half.

The Hawks dominated the second half of the game, allowing the Pandas only 6 more points, the Hawks ultimately winning the game by a definitive score of 55-18.

It must be said the Hawk Maia Jorgensen brought the WOW factor to the court, stealing the ball seemingly at will, driving it to the basket past all opposition as if it wasn't there, and then sinking more times than not.  She was the top scorer in the game with 21 points. Teammate Miranda Van Loon was had the second highest scoring in the game with 12 points.  However, the Hawks are much more than a one or two trick pony.  Their teamwork was excellent, as was their determination to possess the ball, and they made the most of every opportunity.

Hawks Head Coach Wayne Hollander has been a major factor in the Hawks story for a long time. He's coached basketball for Basketball  "25 years, hockey 10 years, youth bowlers of Canada 5 years, little league baseball three years, junior girls slowpitch 10 years..."  Parents in the stands remember having him as their coach, as does his Assistant Coach Mattie Wright.  Mattie is also a Hawks alumni "from six or seven years ago".

"This is my first year with Mr. Hollander," she said.  "I'm loving it.  I can't call him Wayne.  He used to coach me."

"We have some very competitive girls," said Coach Hollander, explaining the "building year" team's success. "We've been working on a press.  On our team we only have two grade 9's, one grade 9 that was with us last year (Maia Jorgensen).  Shes' the girl that we are sort of counting on to lead the attack.  Now, she's only as good as the other nine girls that are on the team.  They complement each other.  They work hard and they want to play.  They really come to play."

"They're not scared to let any one else (on the team) have the ball.  That's the big thing about this team, they're very unselfish, even with the scoring.  They can all do lay-ups.  We had a breakthrough.  In 25 years of basketball (for the first time) we had our junior high team make 25 layups in a row in practice.  It was quite an achievement for us."

"At the present time we're at three wins, and two losses.  We lost a game to Claresholm by 12, we lost to Kainai by three points, and they are a pretty big team.  Last year this team, when they were a B team played the same team and got beat 85 - 20.  The girls were a little intimidated to start, but by the end of the game, they were giving it as good as they got.  I don't mean rough, I just mean they were playing good basketball."