After leading the entirety of the first half, Victoria’s Pacific Christian Pacers suddenly found themselves trailing their opponent, the Sir Alexander Mackenzie Grizzlies (Hagensborg), opened the third quarter with a 12-1 run.
But with no panic in their game, the Pacers – the top seed in the BC School Sports 1A Girls Basketball Provincial Tournament – steadied themselves, re-taking the lead and closing it out with a 70-63 win in the championship final on Saturday afternoon on the Arena Bowl Court at Langley Events Centre.
It was measure of redemption for Pacific Christian – the top seed of the 16-team tournament – who finished in second place the previous two years. The Grizzlies moved up one spot from their third-place finish in 2024.
The championship was their first title since winning back-to-back in 2000 and 2001.
As was the case all tournament, Kealayna Tupas-Singh led the team with a near triple-double of 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. She was selected Most Valuable Player. Mylie Taal and Eden Greene – the Championship Player of the Game – finished with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
For the Grizzlies, Annika Parr had 28 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocked shots, winning the Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award, Twin sister Ayanna Parr scored 15 points with eight rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.
In the third-place game, it was the Credo Christian Kodiaks (Township of Langley) claiming bronze over the Unity Christian Flames 82-37.
Awards and Honours
- Most Valuable Player
Kealayna Tupas-Singh, Pacific Christian - Most Outstanding Defensive Player
Annika Parr, Sir Alexander Mackenzie - Championship Player of the Game
Eden Greene, Pacific Christian - Barry Dearing Fair Play Award
Fort St. James Falcons
First Team All-Stars
- Moriah Jansen, King’s Christian
- Kenzie Raap, Credo Christian
- Alexa Leyenhorst, Credo Christian
- Ayanna Parr, Sir Alexander Mackenzie
- Eden Greene, Pacific Christian
Second Team All-Stars
- Naiomi Stavast, Salmo
- Mila Johnson, Cedars Christian
- Evangeline Koot, Unity Christian
- Anna Smiens, Unity Christian
- Anabel Martinez, Pacific Christian
Full results and news can also be found at www.bchighschoolbasketballchampionships.com
