The junior girls' Bow Valley Bobcats were expecting a tough match and got it in a narrow 45-44 exhibition game victory against the senior varsity team of the St. Timothy High School, Jan. 19.

Coming in nervous about challenging an older team and cold from the limited play since the Christmas break, the Bobcats trailed 28-17 at the half, their biggest deficit of the season. After chipping away at the Thunders lead, the Bobcats went ahead 43-37 when Park Hubl hooped back-to-back 17-foot jumpers with about three minutes left in play.

The Thunder fought back and tied the score 44-44 with 25 seconds left. The Bobcats inbounded the ball and held for the last shot before Jorja Powers drove to the rim and was fouled with a few seconds left on the clock. She hit the first of two to give the Bobcats a one-point lead. The team rebounded the second shot and burned off the remaining few seconds.

Bobcats head coach Kris Nielson knew the Bobcats were in for a challenge against the Thunder, who have a 3-1 record in the Calgary Catholic Senior High league, and says they have several strong players. 

"It was great to have an exciting exhibition game like that to give us the experience both coming from behind and finishing a close game and I think it will pay dividends as we progress in the season and find ourselves in a similar situation," says Nielson.

With exams taking place this week at the Bow Valley High School, the junior girls will also be heading to a Canmore tournament this weekend without a chance to practice, It's followed by a Rocky View Sports league game against George McDougall and the Bert Church Invitational, which features Archbishop Jordan, one of the top 4A JV Girls teams in the province.