Stirling Lakers girls play first ever game in new gym

Jeremy Appel
Westwind Weekly News

The Stirling Lakers girls basketball team made history on March 1 by playing the first game in the Stirling School’s brand new gym.
They also scored a resounding victory against the Picture Butte Queens, defeating them 73-39.
Donna Branch, the Lakers girls basketball coach, says there was “such a big buildup” to the game, having taken the team on a tour of the new facility a few days prior.
“That kind of pumped them up,” she said.
“(The school) did a great promotional video to introduce the girls also, which creates an atmosphere of wanting to play for your school.
“That was a big part of the mood that was set.”
The new bleachers hold about 600 people, more than half of Stirling’s population, which Branch said were quite full.
“They filled pretty nice,” she said. “Always when you’re playing boys and girls, there’s something that only brings the crowd halfway through the girls game.
“Half the village was probably there.”
The coach emphasized the momentous occasion of the game the girls played.
“We were the first ever to play in that gym and we won the first ever game,” said Branch.
The Lakers boys played after the girls in a much closer match against the Picture Butte Kings, defeating them 69-56.
Both games were livestreamed on the Stirling School Facebook page.