Zoey Longman is the kind of player that fits perfectly with the RDP Queens basketball squad.
While the first-year guard out of H.J. Cody in Sylvan Lake is still learning the game at the college level, she’s reached the stage of her development where she can come in off the bench and give the starters a needed breather.
“She has come a long way, that’s a credit to her and how hard she works,” said Queens head coach Avery Harrison. “Her teammates love her to death and that’s a feather in her cap when her teammates think that much of her.
“She comes every day, works hard and I can see her having an even better second half.”
Zoey is the first to tell you she had a lot to learn coming out of a smaller high school program.
“Honestly I had no idea what it was going to look like for me. I attended some of their drop-ins during the summer and it was a totally different game than high school. There I was playing with 15 year-olds, now I’m playing with girls a lot older than me,” said the 19-year-old.
“I realized that pretty quickly, even during the summer, nevermind when training camp opened. I felt I was playing a totally different game and it took me a while to find my game again.”
But playing with the defending ACAC champion Queens was something Zoey wanted all along.
“I came to their games and knew some of the girls and I was really excited to get a chance just be part of it. Still it was really intimidating when I first came out to the drop-in practices and being with the older players, but exciting to learn from them.”
Sandra Garcia-Bernal is one player Longman would love to follow in the footsteps of.
“She is amazing,” she said. “I try to learn as much as I can from her. I see a lot of myself in her, although I have a long way to go to be near as good as she is.
“Her defence is incredible. I thought my defence was good, but watching her I think ‘Oh my’.”
Zoey believes she’s improved because she plays against Sandra in practice.
“I just hope she takes it easy on me,” she said with a laugh. “But she totally makes me better, I saw so much improvement in my game during that first semester. I’ve never grown as rapidly as I did during that time. They forced me to improve if I want to reach the level they’re at.
“My biggest improvement has been my work ethic. Practices are so different than high school. There you showed up 10 minutes before practice. Here it;’ 30 minutes just to warm up and be mentally ready.”
Longman and Sadie Jeffries are both out of the H.J. Cody Lakers program that has consistently improved over the years.
“Peter Saik has done a lot for the girls program there,” Longman said. “Since Sadie (who is in her third year with the Queens) started it’s gone up from there. She was the first one to be successful and it’s blossomed since. We won the zone last year and went to provincials and they have a good group of girls again this year.”
“Kolt Bell joined Peter as a coach this year and that’s benefiting the program as well.”
Zoey played basketball and volleyball through middle school and most of high school until Covid hit.
“After we came back and we were practising again, I was so much happier to be with basketball than volleyball and it was at that moment I knew what I wanted to commit to.”
One 0f Longman’s strengths is her ability to see the floor and her bounce passes are as good as any on the team.
“Credit to Peter as he made me a point guard when I came up to play senior in Grade 8,” she said. “He encouraged me and that motivated me to get better.”
But basketball is just part of Zoey’s college year as she also ran on the cross-country team.
“I ran on the high school team in Grade 12 but was never committed to it,” she said. “My mom was a runner so I ran with her so we could do things together and she motivated me to keep going.
“It was kind of crazy doing both in that first semester, but I found I’d run and it helped clear my mind from the stress of basketball. A good way to escape.”
Zoey ran in three of the four Grand Prix races and the ACAC final, improving each step of the way. In the final she finished 14th — actually tied for 13th in time at 26 minutes 59 seconds — out of 40 runners. She was fourth on the team, which placed second to SAIT and advanced to the Nationals.
“It was a great experience thanks to my teammates,” she said. “And it was on a weekend we didn’t play basketball.”
Longman is taking a two-year Legal Assistant program, but plans on staying around after receiving that degree.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but it’s good. I really enjoy it, but I plan on staying after for sure.”
The Queens have this weekend off but return with a doubleheader against Lethbridge Jan. 12-13. The two games could decide the ACAC championship host this season.
This year’s South champion will host the provincials. The Queens, who didn’t lose an ACAC game in 2023, sit at 10-0 while Lethbridge is 9-1.
All of the RDP teams return to league play next weekend although the volleyball Kings are at the Olds tournament this weekend, facing Augustana Thursday and Medicine Hat and NAIT Friday. The hockey Kings visit Mount Royal University Saturday.
Danny Rode is a retired Advocate reporter and member of the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame who can be reached at danrode@shaw.ca