They may be senior teams, but they are still learning.
Two new senior girls' basketball teams met in Watson last week to show off their stuff.
The Humboldt Collegiate Institute (HCI) senior girls' B team and the Watson senior girls' team played a Horizon Central Athletic Association league game on January 19.
The game was a low-scoring affair, but as the teams warmed up, the play got better and better.
The first quarter saw HCI in control, but there were lots of turnovers and the pace was fairly slow. The visitors were up 12-2 after nine minutes of play.
The second quarter was a faster period, with both teams forcing turnovers and missed shots. HCI's rebounding was the difference, though, allowing them to increase their lead to 27-9 at the half.
The third quarter saw both teams improve their shooting and their passing. HCI started to slow the pace a little as having only two substitutes began to drag at them.
HCI was up 38-17 at the end of the quarter.
The fourth quarter saw HCI play very conservatively as they ran into foul trouble, losing one player and coming close on a couple of others.
HCI won the game 48-23.
Damon Steadman and Trent Ries are the community coaches for HCI, while Jessica Barrington is the staff advisor for the team.
"I was really impressed with the girls today," Steadman said after the game. "They listened and they controlled the tempo of the game."
HCI was short four players for the game, leading to the cautious play in the fourth quarter, he explained.
The seven girls at the game have been playing together since Grade 6 at St. Dominic School, Steadman noted.
"We're just coaching so the kids can play and have fun," he said.
The team is improving over the season, collecting their third win last week. As well, they finished fourth at their last tournament, Steadman said.
Kalvan Manderscheid is the community coach for the Watson team and Kim Andersen is the manager.
This is the first year in a very long time that Watson has had a senior girls' basketball team, Manderscheid said.
"I'm just trying to establish a program. It takes time," he explained.
Watson has 10 players between Grades 9 and 12 and only two are graduating this year, so Manderscheid is hoping the rest stick with it.
"They all show up all the time and they are improving all year," he said. "Some of them have never played before. They are volleyball players."
The team has been going to a few tournaments and only lost to Lanigan by one point in their last game on January 15.
Manderscheid, who played at HCI under Kevin Grieman, has shown real support for the team, not only coaching, but buying them new uniforms as well.
Grieman, who now coaches the HCI senior girls' A team, is also helping out his former player and his new team by providing coaching tips and bringing a few of his senior players to practices in Watson.
