Hammarskjold's Heiskanen makes Under 17 provincial basketball squad

Hammarskjold’s Aliisa Heiskanen is showing off her talent this weekend at the national Under 17 girls basketball championship.

The Hammarskjold athlete earned a rare Thunder Bay invite to Team Ontario, an honour she calls her greatest accomplishment yet.

“The exposure at this level, both provincially and nationally will really contribute to my ongoing development as a basketball player,” she said in a release issued by Lakehead Thunderwolves coach Jon Kreiner, who has coached her for the past seven years with the Thunder Bay Jr. Wolves.

“I didn’t really know if this was going to happen.”

Heiskanen credited a steady diet of year round training, both with the Junior Wolves and her high school team, for making the team.
“I feel very fortunate and am so, so happy to have made the cut,” she said.

Kreiner said she proved she belonged amongst Ontario’s elite.

“Aliisa is very deserving of this appointment. It is much more difficult for athletes in Thunder Bay to get the exposure needed to achieve something as great as this because of geography,” said Kreiner, adding her performance has raised the bar for the Junior Wolves program.

“I couldn’t think of a more deserving role model as our program continues to grow.”

All games in this national tournament will be broadcast here and you can find more information including the schedule here.