BANFF – Marc Geestman called a timeout with 35 seconds left in the Banff Bears’ final home game when they were down by double digits.
A motivational pep-talk to inspire a storybook comeback wouldn’t be coming from the senior girls’ basketball head coach on Saturday (March 2). Instead, he gathered Taylor Desrosiers, Grace Gibson and Breanne Carr together and brought the trio to half-court.
It was the three Grade 12 players’ last time playing in front of the high school home crowd, said Geestman, adding he had been coaching them since Grade 7. The crowd applauded.
After the final buzzer sounded, the teary-eyed Bears who were called to half-court said the curtain call was shocking, embarrassing and emotional all at once.
“We’ve been with him since Grade 7, so 12 years old, I’m 18 now. At 14, we all built a connection together and have been playing for so long so it’s like we’re family basically at this point,” said Carr.
“It was all about making the Grade 12s shine this weekend,” said Geestman. “This was their last home game, it’s gonna break my heart … we still have one big one to go, but this was their last home game.”
Some Banff Community High School history was made when the senior girls played for the gold against the École des Hautes-Plaines Griffons. It was the first time a Banff girls’ team had competed in the finals of their home tournament.
It was an accomplishment the entire team knew before Saturday's main event.
“We’re all crying right now in the change room,” said Desrosiers following the game.
About 90 minutes before, the Bears tipped off against the provincially-ranked squad from Airdrie.
Both teams struggled to find their offensive touch until the second quarter and the Griffons soared with a 15-2 run before the Bears called a timeout to regroup.
When back, the local girls had a 7-0 run of their own, with Griffons’ big gun Rachel Ojo sitting, who was quickly sent back in the game after a brief break on the pine. The Griffons ended the half with a 39-29 lead.
Ojo was the best player on the court and made a difference with or without the ball in her hands from going-and-getting-a-bucket scoring, fighting for rebounds and putting ball pressure on the Bears.
“[Ojo] was all up in our business, she was so strong, like, it was so hard to defend her,” said Grace Gibson, who battled the Griffons centre in the paint all game.
Geestman said they had “no answer” for the skilled Griffons centre “who’s the best athlete I’ve ever coached against.”
In the third quarter, the Griffons grew their lead to a game-high 21 points as it seemed the wheels had fallen off for the Bears.
All game long, the Griffons implemented a full-court press to great effect, leading a ball-handling Bear into a ready-to-spring Ojo at half-court and forcing turnovers.
However, Bears’ Sophie Sibbald provided a spark off the bench with 10 rebounds, a pair of steals and timely triples from shooting guard Maya Daniel kept the Bears alive.
Daniel scored a team-high 30 points, including eight of the Bears’ nine made three-pointers.
Down 15 in the final quarter, the Bears took a page out of the Griffons defensive book and began a full-court press. The added pressure and quick buckets helped cut the lead down to single digits with lots of time left on the clock.
But despite the Griffons bending, they wouldn’t break and held off the scrappy Bears to win 64-53 and take gold at the Bears Classic.
The #Banff Bears sr. girls basketball team took silver at their home tournament, the 2024 Bears Classic (March 1-2). Sharpshooter Maya Daniel scored 30 points, including eight three pointers, in the Bears’ 64-53 loss to École des Hautes-Plaines Griffons. pic.twitter.com/SZGtIiFOCG
— Jordan Small (@jordiesmall) March 3, 2024
Bears’ guard Stella Geestman stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
The Canmore Wolverines and Our Lady of the Snows Avalanche each had a chance to advance to the semifinals in the tournament, but fell to the Highwood Mustangs and Sundre Scorpions, respectively.
With zones this weekend (March 8-9) in Hanna, there are a few things to go over but the No. 4 ranked Bears are ready for what's next.
“(...) They’re peaking at the right time,” said Geestman. “This is the first time in Banff girls basketball that anyone has reached the final so there’s a big improvement from these girls every year. We’re second now and hopefully, we peak [this] weekend.”
