By GARY KINGSTON (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY – As the final buzzer sounded and his MEI team raced to centre court to join students, relatives and others in a raucous celebration after the Eagles’ 3A championship final win, longtime head coach Rick Thiessen stood by himself on the sideline and exulted.
He thrust fisted hands into the air, raised his face to the rafters and screamed. Then he did it again to make sure it wasn’t all just a dream.
After 31 years of coaching senior, junior and Grade 8 girls at the Abbotsford school – and in what he says is his senior girls’ swan song – the grey-haired, bespectacled Thiessen had finally won his first provincial title.
“It felt surreal,” he said while choking up a bit. “Amazing.”
The No. 1 seeded Eagles found themselves in a back-and-forth dog fight against No. 2 Sa-Hali of Kamloops before erasing the Sabres late six-point lead with some clutch shots, steals and lockdown defence. They held on for a nail-biting 50-49 win in front of a crowd of about 1,500 in the Langley Events Centre Arena Bowl.
Thiessen was clearly delighted for the girls, especially for the five Grade 12s on the roster, but after accepting congratulations from a parade of former players and a tear-filled hug with his wife, he was certainly overwhelmed for what he had accomplished personally.
“Oh, my word. I’m pretty happy for myself, I’ve got to tell you. Unbelievable. It feels so good.”
And he felt sure that even though he planned to step away – he may coach his granddaughter’s Grade 8 team next year – the program was on solid footing.
“We are building something and it’s beautiful,” he said. “We believe we’re going to see MEI girls here next year.”
At times on Saturday afternoon it seemed like it might have to be next year for the Eagles to win the school’s first senior girls title since 1999. They couldn’t build on slim leads and seemed intent on giving the game away.
After taking a 13-7 lead after the first quarter when both teams shot poorly – Sa-Hali was a dreadful 2-for-22 – the Eagles watched the Sabres close out the second quarter on an 11-0 run for a 25-21 halftime lead.
MEI regained the lead, 37-35, after three quarters then fell behind 49-43 late before the Eagles roared back. Standout guard Olivia Sidhu drained a clutch three-pointer with 1:21 left to cut the margin to one before converting the winning basket on a short jumper with 19 seconds left.
The defence then knocked the ball loose from Sa-Hali star Nevena Nogic with six seconds remaining as the UBC Okanagan commit tried to force her way to the basket along the baseline. On the subsequent inbounds, Nogic was forced into a tough shot that missed as the buzzer sounded.
“It was such a struggle to score today,” said Thiessen. “But we believed we could play good (defence) and give ourselves a chance. All we needed was to have a shot fall here or there and we had a chance. That’s exactly what happened – the steals at the end, the lockdown defence and the two plays on the end line.”
Sidhu, whose early foul trouble sent her to the bench and slowed the MEI offence, had 11 points for the Eagles, with all but one of the eight players who got on the court hitting the scoresheet. Lola Reimer had nine and Buttar eight.
“It was crazy,” Buttar said of Sidhu’s game-winning shot. “And it was a clutch shot by Olivia before that. We’ve wanted it for the whole year and now that it’s happened, I’m just so happy.”
Like her teammates, Buttar was delighted to be part of the group that delivered a first provincial title for Thiessen, who retired from a long teaching and administration career after the 2024 school year and was feted by the school in January.
“Finally, after so many years and so many chances he finally did it,” said Buttar as Thiessen walked behind her with the cut down net around his neck. “We’re happy to be that year for him.”
Not everyone is convinced, however, that Thiessen will leave the senior team’s bench after tasting the big win.
“It’s great for him,” said Sabres’ head coach Jody Vosper, “but I doubt he’s done. Honestly, I doubt it. He’s a coach.”
Nogic led all scorers with 25 and was named the 3A MVP in a losing cause.
“We had the ball in the hands of who we wanted at the end of the game,” said Vosper. “And that’s life, sometimes the ball will drop and sometimes it won’t.
“But I’m super proud of us. I’m one of the luckiest coaches in the world. I just love this group. I’m really going to miss them.”
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