The efforts and passion of a young high school basketball team have scored points where its shooting ability hasn't.
The Sharks had been stuck at 9 points for quite some time. But then a lane opened, and one of their players went up for the lay-up. The fans in the bleachers beside the Bold Center court cheered as the scoreboard clicked over as the J.A. Williams JV Sharks hit double digits. Their opponents were at 64.
Eleven points.
The crowd — home team supporters and visitors — cheered and whooped.
11 to 64.
It had been a hard-fought battle through three quarters of a basketball game to get there. But struggle has been something written into the playbook of the young team since the season began. They are mainly a rookie squad, and the restrictions and mandates of the last year of the COVID pandemic haven't helped matters. They've had practice time reduced, cancelled and adjusted. They haven't played many league games or had the opportunity to go to many tournaments.
Even hosting their own non-league event on Saturday caused more issues. A couple of team members have COVID, so they were out. One was recovering from an injury, so another absence. The team's head coach Andrew Booth was also not available for the games, so assistant coach Jordan Johnson was manning the bench. The team lost its first game on Saturday morning by a significant margin to Bonnyville's Notre Dame JV squad. After that game, two of the Sharks' players had jobs to get to, and a couple of others had other valid reasons to miss the final game. The Sharks were down to six players and were facing the top team in the region.
Calling for players
Instead of forfeiting, some of the team's players got on the phones and called classmates for help. The end result was a 12-player squad made up of half a dozen kids who were on the team and six who came down to the Bold Center courts and threw on the Sharks jersey to hep their school team. It was a mis-match team with varying talents. A couple of the new players had never played team basketball before, said Johnson.
By the final buzzer, the J. A. Williams Sharks boys team had scored 14. The visiting Cold Lake Royals had 88.
It was a blowout — but both teams were smiling and congratulating each other at the end of the game.
The good-will was a continuation from the game itself. During the match, players from the Cold Lake team had been offering pointers to their Shark opponents, giving advice — while the play was going — on how to better open a lane to the net, how to set their feet to make better passes, and how to look for fast-break opportunities.
Cold Lake coach Lori Flanders-Midford was proud of her team, and the spirit of the rookie JAWS crew and its walk-on student-helpers.
"JAWS has a very nice group of kids. They worked hard and did not quit. I know the score did not reflect that," she told Lakeland This Week following the game.
Johnson said the team's attitude is commendable. He also appreciates their ability to laugh a little and enjoy the game. Describing the un-even scores during the Saturday jamboree, he threw in his own bit of humour, joking that his substitute coaching may have been the real reason the young team had troubles.
"I think the boys missed their head coach, Andrew Booth — It was me on the bench — maybe that could explain the point deficit they had," he said with a laugh.
That attitude, from the players and the coaches, is something other teams notice.
"We saw them in St.Paul as well and played them there too. Their coach was also very good with them on the sidelines. He was encouraging and being positive throughout the game," said Flanders-Midford.
The loss to the Royals at the jamboree tournament was the last game of the year for the JAWS JV boys. Despite losing every game they played this year — both in the Lakeland Schools Athletic Association and in tournaments — Johnson sees it as a great learning season. He is looking forward to seeing their familiar faces next year ... their familiar smiling faces.
"Learning. It's been a learning season. Most of them are first-years playing basketball, so basically a learning team and they will be that much better next year when they come back," he said. "It was a tough for them, but they kept playing, kept smiling. It was tough, but at least had fun playing."
"JAWS has a very nice group of kids. They worked hard and did not quit."
Lori Flanders-Midford, Cold Lake JV Royals
He also expects to see some of the Saturday walk-ons trying out for next year's JV team.
"They did really well. It was a good team," Johnson said.
The JAWS girls team beat the Notre Dame girls squad at Saturday's jamboree, but also lost to Cold Lake. The JAWS girls will play another game this week against Cold Lake to determine which team will represent the Lakeland at the upcoming District tournament.
The Cold Lake JV Royals boys team finished their two games at the jamboree with an undefeated record.
