Flyers ready to soar

In the cyclical nature of high school sports, the Eden senior girls basketball team has reached a high point.

“We have some really nice returning players, we have five kids who have been playing ball outside of school so that’s great and we have some real athletic kids who love basketball,” Eden head coach Brian MacIsaac said. “They only play during the high school season, but they are awesome.

“Our practices have been great — we have had 11 or 12 kids out at practice — so we are very excited.”

MacIsaac knows this is the season where Eden could do some special things on the basketball court.

“We are excited,” he said. “If everything goes well and everyone stays healthy, I think we have a really solid corps of players.”

Eden opened its season with a win over St. Paul Thursday in the St. Francis tournament.

“It was a great game,” MacIsaac said. “We got everybody in, we played well and that’s the way you want to start the season.”

Playing her first game in a year Thursday was Eden point guard Avery Cushing. She missed all of last season while recuperating a shoulder injury and MacIsaac loves having her back on the court.

“Avery is a point guard and she is a true point guard,” he said. “She controls the play, makes great decisions at a high speed, finds the right player and shoots the ball when it is appropriate.”

She is a calming presence on both offence and defence.

“She just settles everything down for us and you can see she’s an exceptional defender,” MacIsaac said. “It just brings us to another level having Avery back this year.”

The 16-year-old Niagara Falls native is delighted to be back on the floor.

“I’m excited to play for Eden this year,” she said. “It was hard not playing last year, but it was nice to watch too.”

It wasn’t easy but she was able to survive her year away from basketball.

“I knew I was coming back so I just kept working harder and harder to get my shoulder better so I could come back,” the 5-foot-6 guard said.

Cushing admits she is a little rusty, but she’s confident she can return to form. Regaining her confidence will be a big part of that.

“I am still a little hesitant with my shoulder so it’s a matter of getting my confidence back and knowing I can still do it,” said Cushing, who will play for the Niagara District Girls Basketball Academy JUEL squad.

She will be working hard during the high school season to keep improving her game.

“I want to enjoy it again,” she said. “I had a tough year last year so I want to go back to enjoying it and working harder every day to get better.”

Like MacIsaac, she’s excited about Eden’s prospects for the season.

“I think we can go pretty far and I’m excited,” she said. “We have a good group of girls who work hard.”