The JVC girls’ basketball team finished out the season with a bang at the first inaugural JVC End-of-Season Tournament hosted at Bishop Blanchet High School by getting first place and bringing a giant trophy home to Prep. The tournament was held from February fifth through the seventh, and the three days showcased the amount of effort it takes to place first in this tournament.
In the past, there have been tournaments held for JVC boys’ teams, but this is the first girls’ tournament to have ever been held. The girls prepared to play against three other teams, Holy Names, Bishop Blanchet, and Lincoln High School.
JVC coach Jordan Alcantara said the girls, “had a lot of energy and were excited to compete again” at the first game against Holy Names since they had not had a game since the previous Monday.
After winning against Holy Names, they went on to play Bishop Blanchet. They then went on to play Lincoln, who unlike the latter of the three, had not played Prep during the regular season. Unsure of what to expect, they persevered and took over the tournament with big wins against each of the three schools.
Alcantara said that they, “did an excellent job of facilitating our offense and moving the ball quickly.” And “Every person on the team scored points for us over the three days, which shows how well we shared the ball and looked for opportunities to score off cuts and open looks.”
She also noted that they were doing great on the defensive, communicating well and being disruptive when applying ball pressure. Many of the defensive plays resulted in more scoring opportunities.
Despite the wins, there were a lot of difficulties behind it. Alcantara said, “It’s tough to play three games in a row over three days,” and, “The biggest difficulties for us over the course of the tournament were staying solid in our fundamentals and composure when we were tired.”
It’s a tough task to play one game after another, but one thing they thankfully had was a deep bench. The support gave everyone rest when they needed it, allowing them to stay sharp on defense, tracking the opponents without fouling and getting rebounds. It helped the team stay, “explosive with energy” in the words of Alcantara.
Winning the tournament brought an exciting end to an intense season. Alcantara said it was, “an incredible way for us to cap off our season together.” And it also was, “icing on the cake!”
They grew as a team and grew as individuals, learning together and from one another. Since they are the first team to win this tournament, they hope to inspire future JVC teams and have this be, “a motivation for JVC teams to come to continue to bring this trophy home to Prep.” According to Alcantara.
