The West Ridge Academy Girl's basketball team tied for 3rd in Region 17 this season. That's the best finish for the girls since West Ridge began its girl's sports program. It's quite an accomplishment given the fact that all the other teams in our region have played together for years, and have returning players. We start out each season with a brand new team and for some it's the first time playing the sport. So as a coach it's very tough to try to put a team together in just a couple of weeks and then compete with the other schools that have been to summer camps, clinics, tournaments and such.
West Ridge Academy is a residential treatment center for at risk youth. The students live on campus and attend school. The average stay is ten months. We are a 1A high school with around 80 boys and 40 girls, the campuses are separate. About 60% of the students are from Utah and the rest come from all over the country. We are a unique program because we are Christian based, and believe that a change of heart takes place as a child includes spirituality into their lives. As they participate in sports they can learn some valuable lessons such as, team work, communication, dedication, trust, hard work and not giving up. Our hope then is that they will develop some of these principles and apply them as they face the challenges and struggles of everyday life.
The girls on this year's team were focused on creating a great TEAM environment. Through that teamwork we were able to come away from the season knowing that we accomplished some remarkable things.
As stated earlier we tied for third in our region. We finished our region schedule with a record of 5 wins and 5 losses. As a team we are very proud of that accomplishment.
We were also able to put a great defensive team effort together as we were able to hold one of the leading scorers in the state, averaging over 20 points a game, to 5 points.
At an individual level, we had two girls named to the All Region Team. Those girls were Alexa L. and Elizabeth C. They were our team captains and exemplified great leadership skills on and off the court throughout the year.
We did not meet all of our goals however. We had a goal to make it to the state tournament in Richfield. We ended up losing our "play in game" by a score of 56-36. We were so proud of how hard the girls played and for their determination to keep fighting to the end. In the locker room we talked about the importance of goals and the truth that even if you don't quite reach the goal you've set, the process of working towards that goal makes you a better person.