Sabres the team to beat going into playoffs

Sanford

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This article was published 21/02/2024 (906 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Sanford Sabres varsity girls’ basketball team has been slowly but surely carving up the competition this season.

At press time, the team was undefeated in Zone 4 regular season play and was ranked the No. 1 AAA team in the province. Not only that, but the Sabres have also won three tournaments, including Sanford Collegiate’s own event earlier this month, and placed third in another back in December.

“I’d say we use our athleticism to our advantage,” said Kelli Sinnock, a teacher at Sanford Collegiate who has coached the girls varsity basketball team for the past 16 years.

“We have a good combination of size and speed. We’re really trying to use our strengths, and they’ve done a good job of trusting each other to take that shot when they have it. They’ve bonded well and bought into the commitment and dedication to what it takes to be good at something.”

Last year, Sanford made it to the AAA provincial tournament, finishing fourth. Although only two players from that team graduated, this year’s team is also a young one, with only two Grade 12 players on the roster. This season’s speak to the grassroots work of building a basketball culture in the rural community, added Sinnock, who runs a spring basketball camp for elementary school kids in Sanford, with high school players acting as coaches.

“Over the last few years, there have been a lot of kids who have really gotten into basketball,” she said.

Sinnock described this year’s team as a committed bunch, many of whom are multi-sport athletes. Three of the four girls who make up the Sabres leadership group — Grade 12 Ivy Bestland, Grade 11 Anjali Smelski Zuk, and Grade 10 Halle Penner — also play on the school’s hockey team, which is slated to finish the regular season as the top team in the Manitoba Women’s High School Hockey League Division 2. Grade 12 Sarah Lawton rounds out the leadership corps.

“It’s been so great seeing both programs having so much success. Those four girls have been a big part of our team,” Sinnock said, adding that three Sanford alumnae — Sam Dunn, Tayler Arkle and Megan Hamm — have been helping out as assistant coaches this year.

With the regular season wrapping up, Sinnock said the Sabres are focused on getting through zone playoffs and hope to quality for the provincial tournament in March.

“We still got to get there. All those competitions will be difficult, but I’ve been super proud of the girls so far,” she said. “We still have a long ways to go and we don’t take any competition lightly. But we feel the opportunity is there.”