A pair of very close losses in OBL (Ontario Basketball League) play has signaled to Sudbury (GSBA) U14 Storm girls head coach Breanna Lemaire that while the team is not yet where she would like to see it, there are most certainly positive signs to build upon.

The GSBA (Greater Sudbury Basketball Association) reps recently travelled south, dropping head to head matchups with both the Parry Sound Stingers (29-24) and Eurostep Basketball in Toronto (36-31).

Still, Lemaire was more than pleased with the effort she received from her girls and their "never say die" attitude, praising the defensive work of Olivia Poirier, in particular.,/p>

"She was very quick on defense and defended hard the entire game," said Lemaire. Offensive, Madison Houle drew kudos from the first year coaching staff of the team that next sees OBL action on the weekend of February 7th and 8th.

"With her speed and ball handling skills, she is very hard to stop and is one of our top scorers every game," said Lemaire. Overall, the staff remained upbeat about the potential for growth with this particular collection of basketball talent.

"All the girls adapted very well as we made substitutions and brought a good amount of intensity to the game, on and off the court," said Lemaire.

Rounding out the team roster are Ariel Nagel, Kristen Kutchaw, Petra Adornato-Matusch, Abigail Goulard, Eva Johnson, Olivia Beeson, Fiona McGill, Londyn Burgess, Jane Hanley and assistant coach Erika Young.