A new basketball team got off to a roaring start in its first series of games over the weekend.
The Whitehorse Lynx is a girls under-13 team for players in Grade 4-7 and features players from various elementary schools.
“I just started with two or three of them. From there, some of their friends joined and we named our team and designed our own logo - they made that initiative and did it themselves,” said Lynx head coach Christine Kirk.
The Lynx squad experienced their first games as a team in Haines, Alaska, this past weekend.
They won three of four exhibition games against girls teams from Haines Elementary School.
“They had never had games before so I took them down to play and it was awesome. It was a good weekend,” said Kirk.
“It’s building. It’s building interest at that age group,” she added. “They all want to play. Now they’re asking, ‘Where are we going next?’
“We might go to some club tournaments in Vancouver. I think in a few years these kids are going to be pretty good, if they continue to play.”
The Lynx played three games against girls the same age, followed by a bonus game against Haines’ Grade 7/8 girls team.
“We did so well we got an extra game against the Grade 8 girls,” said Kirk.
The Whitehorse team won the first three games 40-22, 51-24 and 27-25. They then lost against the older team 25-14.
“For girls in Grade 4, 5, 6, 7, that’s pretty darn good,” said Kirk of the last game.
Jayden Demchuk led the Lynx in its very first game with 22 points.
“Jayden is a Grade 7 kid and she’s really good,” said Kirk. “Hopefully she continues to play, because she can play!”
Demchuk was again the high-scorer in the next game, sinking 17 points, while teammates Ava Cairns-Locke and Jetta Bilsky collected 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Sunday morning the Lynx played a younger Haines team and conversely played their younger players. Cairns-Locke had 10 points and Maggie Wallingham-Schultz had eight.
“Everybody scored. (Demchuk) scored quite a bit of points, but her little sister Sammy, who is in Grade 4, was scoring,” said Kirk. “It was pretty amazing.
“Everybody got a point. It was pretty impressive.
“We’ve been working so hard and to finally play some games was great. Some of them had never played a basketball game before.”
In the Lynx’s one loss, against the Haines Grade 7/8 team, Demchuk was back at it, leading her team with 14 points.
The Whitehorse Lynx was formed about two years ago and practises three times a week.
“They named their own team and everything,” added Kirk, who also coaches the Grade 8 girls Warriors team at F.H. Collins Secondary and is assistant coach for the senior boys team.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com