Plainsmen duo Wiebe, Horwood connect with Pilots

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This article was published 09/05/2022 (1233 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Emma Wiebe and Jasmine Horwood have to make up for lost time somehow.

The Crocus Plainsmen duo missed the 2020-21 high school basketball season due to COVID-19 and put together a solid senior season, winning the varsity girls city title and giving Winnipeg’s Vincent Massey Trojans a scare at provincials.

Wiebe and Horwood aren’t done yet as they’ve both committed to Providence University College for the 2022-23 Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference season.

“It feels so much better,” Wiebe said of figuring out plans for next year. “I was so stressed because of it and honestly I’m so excited because this is such a great opportunity and I’m really excited to keep playing basketball. It would have really sucked to just stop playing because it’s such a big part of my life right now.”

Added Horwood: “It’s nice having one of my teammates come along with me and not make it as nerve-racking. It’s exciting and I’m looking forward to it.”

Wiebe, a five-foot-11 forward, cracked Basketball Manitoba’s AAAA graduating all-star team, along with Plainsmen guard Xuan Cao. Wiebe played in the all-star game on Saturday, April 23 and loved the chance to play with the province’s top players.

“I feel really honoured. It was a really cool opportunity and I’m so glad I got to do it,” Wiebe said. “It was so awesome playing with them, they’re so talented and going at their pace and keeping up with them was so fun.”

While there were no games last year, Wiebe was in a basketball physical education class and still got to play every other day throughout the year. Pandemic-induced restrictions limited gameplay and forced athletes into more individual skill development, which Wiebe said helped her game a ton.

Still, she didn’t have post-secondary offers but Plainsmen coach Adam Hartman connected with Pilots bench boss Joel Coursey and he was interested.

Wiebe runs the floor and rebounds well and comes in as one of the tallest players on the roster. She averaged 13 points and 14 rebounds per game during the Brandon High School Basketball League playoffs. She’s working to improve her ball control during the off-season.

Horwood’s been on a trajectory to post-secondary sports for years now. She played catcher for the Plainsmen baseball team and skates with the boys in the Westman High School Hockey League. But basketball grew on the five-foot-seven guard.

“Girls and guys baseball, they don’t have a lot of opportunities. I found a love for basketball with Hartman being my coach and getting me more into it,” Horwood said.

“Basketball took over as my main focus and I really enjoyed it. Just making really nice plays, getting everyone involved, obviously looking for myself but finding my teammates and seeing their success really builds me up as a player.”

Horwood planned to work as a health-care aide and attend Manitoba Emergency Services College — formerly Manitoba Fire College — but couldn’t pass up the chance to play. Horwood averaged nine points and 6.5 assists and four steals per game in the playoffs, shooting 40 per cent from the field.

She’s entering Providence’s aviation program with intentions of flying for search and rescue.

The Pilots lost the 2022 MCAC final 79-57 to Canadian Mennonite University in March.

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