The Sudbury U15 Jam Girls are all about having options.
On the court, as they transition into the attack, the local squad now features a variety of plays aimed at exploiting their opponents - or perhaps simply taking what the defense gives them.
Moving forward, the grade nine crew are hopeful that post-secondary doors might open at a later date, wherever that may be.
Certainly, a near-flawless performance at OBLX Pool A Provincials last weekend in Milton will only help the causeof a Jam team that has retained a core of roughly four to five players dating back to their U8 season, bringing aboard a few newcomers through to the U11 year and finally adding a couple more a little over a year ago.
It's a group that head coach Chris Miller has worked with from day one - and one which he continues to push, every step of the way.
"This year, the big leap is incorporating more college and university concepts to the game," said Miller. "Where it was a simple formula last year, this year we are running higher level systems."
By his own admission, Miller is far more inclined to enjoy the teachings on the offensive side of the game - though part of that is certainly due to the natural skill-set that this collection of ten talented athletes brings to the table from the start.
"Defensively, our team is very good," suggested Allessia Vallilee, a 14 year old freshman at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School. "We are all quick and fast with our feet."
A point guard who has her sights set on playing for Lo-Ellen Prep somewhere down the road, Vallilee believes she is very well suited to her role on the team. "I like the fact that I can help others shine; I like having more assists than buckets."
"I think my shot still has to improve a bit, but I've been working a lot on it and it has definitely improved since the start of the year."
A first year student at E.S.C. l'Horizon, Sophie Montgomery is among the handful of girls who jumped aboard this ship a couple of years into the journey, understanding the aspects of her game that would help her quickly feel at ease with a group that had already enjoyed some competitive basketball experiences.
"It was really the defense for me, because you don't want people to score on you," said Montgomery, also 14 years of age. "You have to stay low and move your feet, have quick feet, and always look at the ball and don't fall for fakes."
"You really have to focus."
Meanwhile, the work continues at the other end of the course, even if getting up to speed on the game plan requires a little improvisation.
"We are working a lot on our offense, fast breaks and transition, and also our transition to defense to make sure that we prefect that," explained Montgomery. "There is a lot of memorizing of our playbook involved."
"On the drive to tournaments, we're looking over the notes and then you get your dad quiz you."
Like most who jump into the realm of coaching, Chris Miller looks to find just the right fit between his own basketball beliefs and the specific strengths and weaknesses of the teens that he is looking to groom.
"I try and adapt our style to our team," he said. "Our team is quick, they are good ball handlers and we are a good shooting team. I wanted to adopt systems that would give us a lot of space. That spacing allows some of our ball handlers and drivers to get to the lanes and it opens things up for our three point shooting."
The strategy apparently worked to perfection.
Victories over Oakville Vytis #2 (45-36), the K-W Vipers (48-34), Transway (56-44) and the Milton Stags Elite (54-35) would vault the Sudbury U15 Jam girls to a gold medal performance at the OBLX finals last weekend.
The remaining gold medal winners on the team were Sarah Guignard, Michaela Tripp, Kamryn Newell, Sophie Miller, Brooke Waltenbury, McKenna Mende, Paige Dawson and Kaylee Prevost-Patterson, with John Dawson and Stephen Montgomery serving as assistant coaches.
