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While most of the players on the Olds High School junior varsity girls’ basketball team have one eye on the future, in the meantime they’re doing a good job staying focused on the present.

The Spartans wrapped up a perfect Chinook’s Edge South Athletic Association JV girls’ basketball league season by downing Didsbury 61-38 last week in the playoff final at the new health and wellness centre in Olds.

A massive fourth quarter offensive explosion and a restrictive defence saw the Spartans extend a 35-32 lead after three quarters into the final margin of victory to secure the hardware for the four-team league.

"I just told them that this game was about passion and heart and the team that wanted it the most will win," head coach Shelley Sayers explained after the game. "Didsbury had an unfortunate injury that made it more difficult for them, but I think my girls stepped up especially when (captain and point guard Taylor Lindstrom) fouled out."

Having momentum from the league playoffs will be key as the season culminates for the Spartans this weekend when they head to Chestermere for the 3A/4A South Central Zone championships.

Going in, the team will have tempered expectations, but hopes are the progression the players have made since the start of the year will be on full display at the zone finals.

"If we go in ranked sixth, we’d like to come out ranked third or fourth and I think the girls can do that if they stay focused," Sayers suggested. "The biggest difference in the girls is the fact that they can slow down and pass the ball whereas before they were going on just pure aggression and intensity. Now they have the ability to actually think through things and slow down the game."

Comprised of eight Grade 10s and two Grade 9s, the current JV squad is considered the foundation for the senior girls team in the next couple of years. With many members of the senior Spartans squad graduating this year there will be plenty of opportunity for the core of this JV team to step up next year and contribute.

Sayers said the players bring certain natural attributes that will help with that transition.

"They’re very athletic and they just have such a drive, which is something that you can’t coach in girls … and they have that natural ability which is fantastic," she said.