Holy Ghost Blazing Spirits make court history

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This article was published 02/04/2018 (3048 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Holy Ghost School’s girls basketball team became the first Catholic school to make it to the junior high provincial final last month.

On March 22, the Blazing Spirits hit the court at Tec Voc High School to face Henry G. Izatt Middle School in the championship game. Though the Spirits battled hard, Izatt won the game, 53-36.

But that’s OK when you are already a champion. On March 17, Holy Ghost won the Manitoba Catholic Schools Athletic Association’s championship for the third consecutive time by defeating St. Maurice School, 56-34.

Jeremy Thiessen, an assistant coach with the Blazing Spirits, said the team’s regular season went smoothly and the team won most of its league games handily. But that didn’t stop the girls from working hard, he said.

“In my opinion, this is the most complete team that we’ve had,” he said.

 “This is a group of girls that are not only the best in our Catholic division but I think we have some of the best players in the province playing on this team.”

“We fight for every ball, we play defense as hard as we can, and it’s not much because we have so much skill, it’s because we have so much heart and we leave it all on the court, and that’s why I think our team is really strong this year,” said Blazing Spirits co-captain Delaney Galera, 13.

Galera has been playing basketball since she was in Grade 2 and said it is the kind of sport that required all players to work together. 

She said she was proud of her team these past three seasons and that she is happy her last year playing for Holy Ghost ended with a championship.

“They work hard, and for the past three years no one really expected this small school to accomplish so much in these past seasons,” she added. “We work hard, and we work as a team, we have a lot of good girls here, and we have some good coaching, and we have a whole crowd of fans in the stands every game cheering us on.”

Speed, desire and work ethic are traits that any coach likes to see in a team, and the Spirits have had plenty to spare. Thiessen said that newcomers to the team played up to the high standards set by the veterans and their coaches were kept.

“We had a handful of new girls this year but the girls that are new to this team have followed the work ethic and followed the passion and the desire of previous years. So it becomes a continuation,” he added.

Most of the girls have been playing together since they were in Grade 6 and developed their skills together. Gini Daquis, the team’s 13-year-old co-captain, said they work together the entire time they are on the court.

“We never gave up on any game,” she commented. “Basketball is more than just practising skills. It is a way to play with people that you love and a way to bond and learn how to work together.

“The feeling that you get after winning a hard game is something that you can’t replace with anything else.”