The golden age of Seycove girls basketball is nearing its peak, and the Seyhawks are hoping the story ends on top of the provincial podium.
Club and high school coaches in and around the Seymour area have been grooming an ultra-talented group of players for the past five years, a journey that included a stop in the provincial AA final last year. That team claimed a bittersweet silver, and now seven of those players are back and the Grade 12-loaded Seyhawks are flying high with a return trip to the final in their sights.
Seycove, the smallest public high school on the North Shore, made a claim to top-dog status in the district with a 65-40 win over Argyle Jan. 17, their second win this season over one of the North Shore’s top-ranked AAA teams. The Seyhawks are currently No. 2 in the provincial AA rankings and have scored several strong results around the province, including a third place finish at the prestigious Centennial Top 10 Shoot-Out in Coquitlam earlier this month.
“We’re all in,” said head coach Darcy Grant, who added that the players have been focused on gold ever since their loss in last year’s final. “Their goal is to try to get back to the provincial final and to win a provincial championship. They’re motivated and they’re working for it.”
The team is loaded with talent, led by 6-2 forward Sage Stobbart who has attended numerous ID camps with the junior national team program and recently signed a scholarship to play NCAA Div. 1 ball at UC Davis.
“She’s an incredible talent,” said Grant. “That just doesn’t come around too often.”
The Seyhawks, however, are far from a solo effort. Shooting guard Lindsey Bott has already inked a scholarship with UBC Okanagan in the U Sports Canada West conference, while forward Ashley Bradshaw has also drawn interest from Canadian university programs.
Kayla Krug and Stephanie Laube round out Seycove’s talented all-Grade 12 starting lineup, a unit that has been balling together at the school since Grade 8.
“We have a very, very strong core group of girls,” said Grant, adding that having an all Grade 12 lineup is quite an advantage. “Things run smoothly. Things run really well. … We have far more maturity, we have far more leadership, we have more experience. We’re just kind of hoping that all of that can come together for a nice provincial run.”
The Seyhawks also have the motivation of last year’s playoffs, which ended with an 80-71 loss against Prince George’s Duchess Park Condors in the provincial final. The team now tries to strike a balance between gaining motivation from last year’s loss while not dwelling on the past.
“We talk about it as a team – we were nine points short of winning a provincial championship last year,” said Grant. “We’re not fixated on last year, we’re trying to create a new identity this year and we’re trying to carve our own path. … We reference it, because we try to use that experience to learn from our mistakes. But we also try to be very present, and we try to enjoy each game as we go.”
The loss did, however, help provide motivation for the off-season. Most of the returning players spent the summer honing their skills on provincial or club teams
“We saw some incredible growth when we came back to our formal practices at Seycove,” said Grant. “Overall it’s been a good season, but obviously in saying that we realize how much more work we have left to do to hit our stride in preparation for the playoffs.”
That Seycove is in this position is quite a change for a program that had never been a basketball powerhouse before this renaissance. The team won their first North Shore title in 2012, and last year marked their first trip to a provincial podium.
“I think it’s a reflection not only of the talent and ability that these girls possess, but also the hard work that they’ve put in for five years and making basketball their priority,” said Grant. “They’re a great group of girls. For me personally it’s going to be bittersweet no matter what happens.”
They’re all hoping, however, the golden era ends with a golden finish.
“They got a taste of what it’s like to make it to the finals,” said Grant. “Hopefully they still know that, they understand that and I think for us we need to find our stride so once the playoffs come we are 100 per cent dialed in and 100 per cent committed to winning one game at a time and taking the next step and then the next step. And if we’re lucky enough to get back to the provincial final, hopefully they play their hearts out and they play with no regrets.”
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The Seyhawks will finish off regular season play in the North Shore premier league with a pair of home games. Sentinel will travel to Seycove tonight while Carson Graham will make the trip Monday, Jan. 30. Both games start at 7:30 p.m.
