Crocus girls reclaim city hoops crown

Kate Hiebert saw her team’s growth on full display Thursday night.

When seemingly nothing went right for the Crocus Plainsmen on offence, they simply focused on the other end.

The result was a 51-35 victory over the host Vincent Massey Vikings to sweep the Brandon High School Basketball League varsity girls’ final 2-0.

“I’ve been with her four years now and she’s really strong that way,” Genesis Lopez Mejia said of Hiebert’s defence.

“Since (forward) Ashley (Sullivan) is their strongest player, she held her down really well.”

Hiebert got the Plainsmen going with their first six points, and they led 18-10 after the first quarter. Both teams endured an ugly scoring drought in the second quarter, each scoring just two points until Mary Akinbode made a layup for Crocus to lead 22-12 at halftime.

“You have to just focus on the next one. It’s so hard when the shots aren’t falling,” Hiebert said.

“You’ve got to focus on the defence, of course, because if they keep making them, that’s when it gets messy.”

The Vikings hung around in the third thanks to a pair of Eva Lam three-pointers, trailing 31-22 entering the fourth. But in the final frame, Hiebert and Kinsley Penner led the Plainsmen to a 20-point quarter to put it out of reach.

“It’s keeping calm and trusting my teammates that all of them are doing their job. We just gotta work together as a team to get through it,” Lopez Mejia said.

“It was unlucky our shots weren’t falling in, but they were going to start. They did start and that’s when we popped off.”

Crocus missed out on what has been a seemingly annual trip to provincials last year, and will go as one of the lowest seeds as they’re not ranked in the AAAA top 10.

However, they’ve beaten the No. 9 Jeanne-Sauve Olympiens, and stayed with seven points of the fifth-ranked St. Mary’s Flames, a possible first-round matchup.

And Hiebert feels this isn’t the same Plainsmen team it was when it last travelled to Winnipeg in early January.

“Iliana (Courchene), Genesis, Neso (Ibeawuchi) … they’ve grown so much from when I started playing with them,” Hiebert said. “It’s night and day from how they used to be so it’s crazy to see.

“I feel like I’ve grown so much in communication and even just being more confident. I’m driving to the net, making passes out and just being confident overall.”

The first round is on March 12, with the winners heading to the quarterfinals to face one of the top four teams in the province.

The semifinals are on March 18, with the final set for March 23.

“I’m just excited for the bus ride and back there with my teammates for one last time,” Lopez Mejia said.

The Plainsmen JV team also captured the city title on Thursday, beating the Vikings 60-32.

On the boys’ side, the Viking varsity team and Plainsmen JVs took Game 1 on Wednesday. Game 2 is on Monday at Crocus.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com