Learning on the job

Few in provincial high school basketball circles realistically expected the Horton Griffins D-1 team to contend for a third straight provincial title this year.

After all, the Griffins lost four key starters from the 2005/ 2006 championship team, most notably Jana Spindler, an elite impact player and national program veteran who qualified as the best performer for her age in the province.

Most expected the Griffins to be competitive, given their projected starting five included two members of the provincial U-17 team - Jasmine Parent and Emma Duinker, who had also represented Nova Scotia at the Canada Games - and two provincial U-15 players in Lindsay Harris and Abbey Duinker, both still in Grade 10.

However, if this season so far has proven anything, there is a lot of truth to the old adage nothing in life is for certain.

Emma Duinker has yet to suit up for the Griffins in a game, much less practice in earnest, due to arm and shoulder problems.

Parent was playing outstanding basketball - until she suffered a sprained ligament in her knee. Fellow Grade 12 senior Robyn Fleckenstein has been in and out of the lineup as well due to injury.

Abbey Duinker has recurring troubles with a tailbone problem, and Harris, the point guard, has had hip troubles that, while they have not limited her playing time or her effectiveness, have meant she had had to play with pain.

Head coach Bev Greenlaw always arranges the toughest possible schedule for his team - a recipe for disaster, right?

Well, let's be fair: the Griffins have had their bad times this season. They have far more losses than they had the previous two years, but you can't lose the players Horton has and expect things to motor along as usual.

Add in the injuries, the uncertainty over who is able to play and who isn't, not to mention almost everybody - including the returning players - having to assume a larger and often different role, and it could add up to a long and trying winter.

While the Griffins may not win a third straight provincial title, and while it's not always been pretty, they're hanging in there with a group of players that are, quite frankly, learning on the job.

Between them, Lindsay Harris and Abbey Duinker probably have as much potential as any pair of players their age in Nova Scotia - and maybe beyond. Realistically, though, they are both still only 15 and in Grade 10, and are not only being thrust into starting roles at key positions, but expected to be team leaders as well.

One might argue it's a lot of pressure to put on young, still-developing players, but there's another old saying: what doesn't kill you will end up making you stronger.

Harris and Duinker have risen to the challenge, and will likely get the bulk of the headlines, but they are by no means alone.

Robyn Fleckenstein has worn a Horton uniform for four years, but has never before been called upon to start, enough of an adjustment in itself. Robyn, through hard work, has been able to compensate for not being the most skilled of players by learning to play within her limitations and using the strengths she has to her advantage. In the absence of Emma Duinker, she has stepped up offensively, leading the team in scoring in most of their games, and also as an on-court leader on a team, right now at least, is being forced to try and win many games with defense.

Greenlaw readily admitted before the season Horton wasn't that deep talent-wise beyond the projected starting five, but several players not expected to contribute in a major way have not only been called upon to do so, but have risen to the challenge.

The recent Subway tournament at Horton was a perfect example. In the absence of Parent and Emma Duinker, and with Fleckenstein, Harris and Abbey Duinker all playing at less than 100 per cent; players like Katrina Winslade, Christine Crowell, Sarah Smith and Kaylee Young all played key roles in a somewhat surprising third-place finish.

Horton's finest hour, to my mind, of the season so far was a 47-42 win over St. Pat's Saturday, in which they held the Irish to just 16 points in the second half and were able to do what it took on offense to score enough points to win.

Of the normal “non-starters,� all but Winslade will return next season. Greenlaw would be the first to tell you there's no time like the present to get a taste of what the future will require.

I was particularly impressed with the play of Kaylee Young during the Subway tournament. She showed a strong work ethic, and, at times when offense was needed, she not only wanted the ball but was able to do something with it when she got it.

The Griffins do need to worry about the rest of this year before moving on to next year and beyond. At the same time, if they can get all their players healthy, they may not be the long shot to win provincials this year many people believed.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our readers the best for the Christmas season and for a happy and fulfilling 2007.