The Lindsay Thurber Raiders senior girls basketball team are close to where they want to be.
With an 11-1 record so far this season, they’ve been the best team in the 4A central zone with provincials around the corner.
From March 14-16, the Raiders will host the ASAA Provincial High School Basketball Championships on their home court.
At this point in the season, Thurber feels comfortable with how they’re playing but head coach Kathy Lalor said there’s room for improvement.
“We will be ready,” she said. “We’ve got six weeks until provincials and if we can keep making the strides that we’re making I think we’ll have a chance to be competitive.
“But that’s the hard part, right? You’ve always got to keep going forward and you never know how that’s going to go. Typically, our teams are good at getting better in February so I hope this is one of those teams who continue to do that.”
As it stands the Raiders are unranked provincially but are listed as an honourable mention. Lalor explained it’s because they haven’t played a ranked team since the first week of January.
Their only loss came on opening weekend against Spruce Grove and since then have rattled off 11 straight wins. However, this weekend could be a turning point for the Raiders who will host some ranked teams in their home tournament at the high school.
They’ll also head on the road to play a few ranked teams in the near future including a trip to Calgary.
“It’s going to be fun this weekend to actually play against some of them.”
Most recently the Raiders took down the Notre Dame Cougars 95-19 on Thursday night. It was their first game back after a slight break at the end of January.
“The girls are playing a little bit better all the time,” Lalor added.
“We’ve been trying to play with a little bit more intensity than we did at the first of the season. I think we’re getting. It takes a little while to get them to work together with that intensity but it’s coming along.”
McKinley Penninga led the way with 25 points followed by Jorgia Hicks with 17. Penninga returned to the lineup recently after recovering from an injury. Lalor said she’s starting to come along.
“It is nice to have her back. She works well with some of the girls that she’s played with in the past so it’s nice to see that come together too,” she said.
She explained since the Christmas break they’ve been working hard on playing more physical defence.
“I think that’s coming along. Just trying to get more into the passing lanes and steal balls. It’s a working progress and it takes a long time to get to where you want to be,” Lalor said.
“We have a lot that we still want to do.”