Heading into the senior girls high school basketball season, the coach of the Terry Fox Ravens expected a few bumps along the way.
After all, the core of Mike Carkner’s team was mostly junior players, new to the physical demands of playing against bigger, more mature players in Grades 11 and 12.
Friday, the Ravens showed Carkner — and any other doubters — it has the right stuff to compete against anyone when the team upset the top-seeded Riverside Rapids, 92-89, to win the first Fraser Valley North AAAA championship. Both teams qualify for the provincial championships, that begin Feb. 26 at the Langley Events Centre.
They’ll be joined by the Burnaby South Rebels, which upset the Heritage Woods Kodiaks, 64-60, to claim the zone’s third spot at provincials, although the Kodiaks will have a last chance to win its way in if it can defeat North Surrey this week.
Carkner said the quality of opponents in league play — both Riverside and Heritage Woods consistently ranked in the top ten through most of the season — brought out the best in his young players.
“They are a very resilient group,” he said, adding they “enjoy the pressure of playing against the best teams on the biggest stage.”
It’s also a setting not entirely unfamiliar to the Ravens, as most of its players were a part of last year’s junior team that marched through its schedule undefeated and then claimed a provincial banner.
In fact, Grade 10 point guard Cerys Merton, who won the most valuable player award at the 2019 junior provincials was awarded the same honour at the Fraser North tournament. She was capably supported by another Grade 10 forward, Emily Sussex, who was named to the Fraser North all-star team. Alisha Weloy, Lauren Clements and Ana Misic are also seasoned veterans of the provincial U15 team, along with Merton.
Carkner said the group has also found added strength from Grade 10 teammate Karin Khuong, who was diagnosed with a rare soft-tissue childhood cancer at the start of her freshman year.
Now in remission, Khuong was the keynote speaker at last September’s Terry Fox hometown run in Port Coquitlam and Carkner said her journey has left an indelible impression on her teammates.
“Despite the adversity, the kids have stayed together as a group,” he said.
• Other players named to the Fraser Valley North all-star team include: Venica Daginon and Sami Shields, from Riverside; Jenna Griffin, of Heritage Woods; and Burnaby South's Lanny Glover.
