By Sandra Klaric
Defending a championship title is tough for any team. But when your star player is injured in the first game of the season…
This is the situation for Lisgar’s senior girls basketball team, who lost star point guard Vanessa Maxwell in its first game against St. Patrick’s High School.
Maxwell, Grade 12, will be out for six to eight weeks with ligament damage. She sees her injury as something that will produce a positive outcome for her team.
“Other players are going to be able to step up and see what they can do. Other people will become used to having me not there. They can’t always count on me or the other key players.”
Natalie Johnston, another key player in the team’s success, says she will “take on a little bit more leadership,” but thinks some of the other girls will step up as well.
Team members are confident they will win the city championship again this year, with or without Maxwell.
Coach Bill Fraser thinks they can win again, but says this year’s league is very competitive, with Lisgar, Nepean, Glebe and St. Patrick’s all capable of beating each other on any given night.
How far Lisgar goes “will be determined by how quickly Vanessa returns, and how well she plays when she does return,” says Fraser.
Maxwell says she, Johnston, and Caitlin Jenkins, are the core group that will have to carry the team this year.
Lisgar has two rookies in the starting lineup, as well as a number of rookies on the bench, who Fraser hopes will mature into a solid team as the season goes on.
But for now, without Maxwell at the point, the team will be susceptible to pressure defence. Fraser says his team is not “going to lie down and roll over for anybody if we don’t have Vanessa back. We’ll claw and play some defence and see what happens.”