It was a special return home to Prince George for UBC Thunderbirds forward Marcie Schlick.
The former high school basketball star returned to where it all began last weekend as UBC fell to the UNBC Timberwolves by scores of 75-65 and 79-61.
Despite the pair of defeats, Schlick says it was a surreal feeling returning to the Northern Sports Centre as a member of the visiting team.
“It was a little bit different because I remember coming as a little girl playing at halftime and walking out with the Timberwolves but even though I’m not a Timberwolf, it’s exciting to be back here in the gym, the atmosphere is always really great and I’m just glad that we had the opportunity to play here and even though we didn’t get the results we wanted to we still had lots of fun here and being back in Prince George is great.”
The local product achieved no shortage of success on the basketball court during her high school days as a member of the Duchess Park Condors who won the city championships in her final season playing alongside Madison Landry and Alina Shakirova who now suit up for UNBC.
Schlick has no shortage of memories or praise for her former teammates.
“It’s always fun playing against them, we were always competitive in practice when I played with them so I didn’t expect any less playing against them and I just feel proud for them because they’re doing a great job, they played good games and then of course you always have that connection with old teammates and we’re all still good friends so I’m excited for them.”
It’s a rare transition year for the Thunderbirds who sit ninth in the Canada West women’s basketball standings with a 3-3 record with no fourth of fifth-year players on their roster.
That’s pretty uncharacteristic for a nationally-acclaimed program who is always on or near the top of the mountain year in and year out.
Schlick says the rebuilding phase has been a work in progress with a lot of the younger players taking on leadership roles.
“It’s just a different team dynamic because we don’t have necessarily those older leaders so we have some younger people that are taking on bigger role so that’s definitely a little bit harder but it’s a really fun group to be a part of and it’s exciting to have the chance to take on a bigger role and just kind of figure out where we’re at.”
“It’s been a big change for me since last year as I wasn’t on the court as much but I’m getting lots of opportunities to grow my game and I’m getting pushed a lot more than I ever have mentally and physically.”
Schlick posted seven points in 45 minutes during both games against UNBC.