Rookie coach leads Dartmouth basketball team to a perfect season

The dying minutes of the Nova Scotia high school Division 1girls basketball championships on Saturdaywere some of the most nerve-racking of rookie coach Marika Williams's life.

Dartmouth High's perfect season was at stake as it traded points with Horton High.

"They were up and then we were up and then they were up and then we were up," the 24-year-oldtold CBC's Information Morning. "I don't think I breathed for like the second half of the game."

It wasn't until the buzzer rang with a 72-70 scorein her team's favourthat Williams let herself look back and revel in what they'd accomplished 30 wins and zero losses.

"It was really amazing, like there's nothing else I can say," said Williams. "The girls did so well,they worked so hard and they came to practice day in and day out."

The team of 10 players was often going up against schoolswith muchdeeper benches. But what her team lacked in size, they made up for in energy, said Williams.

"They pick each other up, so if one was down someone's going to come over and pat her on the back and say, 'It's OK. We're still good or shoot that shot.' Everything was really constructive and nothing was negative."

While this was her first stint as head coach, Williams is no stranger to the court, having played basketball for five years with Mount Saint Vincent University.

She said her strategy all season was to play the long game.

"So it's not about this one practice, this one hard drill that we're going through. It's about three weeks down the road, three months down the road. We're practising in November for March," she said.

Williams will startlaw school in the fall, but said she's not giving up her coaching career. Her nextjob is asassistant coachforBasketball Nova Scotia's under-17 girls team this summer.

"I went through my entire university career playing basketball, going to school full-time, working two jobs and volunteering. Soit just makes sense for me to stay busy," she said.

Dartmouth High's boys team were also named provincial champions. They lost just one game this season.

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