All three No. 1 seeds were convincing winners on the opening day of the BC School Sports Girls Provincial Basketball Provincial Championships.
The three-tier, 48-team tournament kicked off on Wednesday (March 1) morning and runs through Saturday (March 4) at Langley Events Centre.
2A Tournament
The top-seed Mulgrave Titans won handily over the No. 16 Shas Ti Kelly Road Grizzlies, 93-19. Jenna Talib led the Titans’ balanced attack with 20 points. Up next for Mulgrave will be a quarter-final clash with the No. 9 Abbotsford Traditional Titans. The Titans rode a 27-point performance from Janeesh Sran to edge the No. 8 Kalamalka Lakers 57-50. The Lakers had jumped out to a 12-0 lead and were up 21-4 before Abbotsford Traditional outscored Kalamalka 23-7 in the second quarter.
The other quarter-final on the top half of the draw will feature the No. 4 Holy Cross Crusaders against the No. 5 St. Thomas More Collegiate Knights after each team posted narrow victories in their respective opening round games.
The Crusaders were 63-53 winners over the 13th seed Abbotsford Christian Knights with Samantha Isidro leading the Crusaders with 18 points. Naomi Brown was tops for the Knights with 14 points, including four triples.
St. Thomas More Collegiate scored the game’s final six points in their 50-44 win. Demicah Arnaldo led the Knights with 17 points while Jensa Napier-Ganley led Brentwood College – and all scorers – with 19 points.
The Fernie Falcons needed overtime but were 78-73 winners over the A.R. MacNeill Ravens as the tenth seed pulled off the upset over the No. 7 Ravens. Kadei Anderson (29 points) and Cassie Fahselt (20 points) led the way for the Falcons. The Ravens were led by the heroics of Kim Tiu, who scored 49 points in the loss.
Up next for Fernie is a date with the defending 2A champion Langley Christian Lightning after they were 67-39 winners over the Lambrick Park Lions. Colette Van der Hoven scored 19 in the victory while Macy Hogg had 20 for the Lions.
3A Tournament
The St. Michaels University School Blue Jags raced out to a 26-3 lead on their way to a convincing 80-36 opening-round win over the W.L. Seaton Sonics in the 1-vs-16 matchup. Makena Anderson paced the top-ranked Blue Jags with 17 points while Evelie Colclough matched that total for the Sonics.
Up next for S.M.U.S. will be a quarter-final contest against the No. 8 Little Flower Academy Angels as the Vancouver school held off the No. 9 Maple Ridge Ramblers 49-46. LFA trailed 46-38 in the fourth quarter before scoring the game’s final 11 points. Isabella Heffring was a scoring machine for the Angels as she put up 31 points. Kayleigh Mark led the Ramblers with 19 points.
The other quarter-final will feature the No. 4 South Kamloops Titans and the fifth seed M.E.I. Eagles, after they each posted double-digit victories. The Titans won 60-46 over the No. 13th Clayton Heights Nightriders and the Eagles used a stifling defence to defeat the Vernon Panthers 51-31.
Lucy Marchese scored 19 and Francesca Faraone had 13 points to lead South Kamloops while Emma Yarwood had 19 for Clayton Heights. For the Eagles, Bree Neufeld was unstoppable, scoring 33 points, including six 3-pointers. Maddy Hackman’s 11 points led the Panthers.
The defending 3A champion R.A. McMath Wildcats were 82-51 winners over the John Oliver Jokers, advancing the No. 3 seed to face the No. 6 Sa-Hali Sabres, after the Kamloops school defeated No. 11 Robert Bateman Timberwolves 73-45.
Caitlin Kippan was deadly from outside as she sank seven 3-pointers, finishing with 25 points, while Marina Radocaj had 21. Queenie Salazar scored 15 for the Jokers while Rachael Forrester had 14. For the Sabres, Kalie Saari had 25 (including five triples) and Teni Aina had 21. Brie Izbicki (17 points) and Erin Misura (15)
The Argyle Pipers were the only team outside the top 8 to advance to the quarter-final round as the 10th-seed knocked off the No. 7 College Heights Cougars 72-55. Reese Tam scored 22 for the Pipers. College Heights’ Rachel Loukes countered with 27 to lead her team.
Argyle’s next opponent will be the No. 2 seed Abbotsford Senior Panthers, who were 81-28 winners over the Mark R. Isfeld Ice. Malia Lenz scored 20 of her 24 points in the first half as the Panthers cruised to the victory.
4A Tournament
One year ago, Kiera Pemberton averaged nearly 42 points per game at the 2022 4A Girls Tournament, and in Wednesday’s opening round game, she picked up right where she left off, scoring 44 points at the No. 1 Gators crushed the 16th-seed Mount Baker Wild 97-30. The Gators next opponent will be the No. 9 Claremont Spartans, after the Victoria school edged No. 8 Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs 67-60. Adia Pye led the Spartans with 27 points while Stefanie Hart led the Bulldogs with 17.
Maggy Curtis scored 27 points and Jay Hildebrand had 14 as the No. 4 Yale Lions bested the No. 13 Charles Best Blue Devils 75-49. Jessica Parkinson had 13 to top the Blue Devils. The Lions next opponent will be the fifth seed Seaquam Seahawks, who were 85-47 winners over the No. 12 Reynolds Roadrunners. Seaquam had five players finish in double digits, led by Nyssa Sunner’s 23. Saige Parfitt scored 17 for Reynolds.
Matching 19-point efforts from Mav Chahal and Avery King led the No. 6 Kelowna Owls to a 72-42 win over the No. 11 South Delta Sun Devils. Kaija Rutledge had 17 to pace the Sun Devils. Up next for the Owls is a quarter-final clash against the third seed Riverside Rapids, who were 85-56 winners over the 14th-seed R.E. Mountain Eagles. Avery Sussex scored 25 for Riverside while Ava Mort led the Eagles with 21.
The final two opening round matches saw the Okanagan Mission Huskies (No. 7) beat the No. 10 Heritage Woods Kodiaks 88-47 behind a 28-point effort from Kanani Coon. Rhyanne Head led the Kodiaks with 11 points.
Up next for the Huskies will be a date with the No. 2 seed Burnaby Central Wildcats, following their 92-30 win over the No. 15 Prince George Polars. Ankita Chopra’s 22 points led the Wildcats while Brooke MacDonald scored 14 for Prince George.
Day 2
Day 2 action tips off at 8:30am. For full schedule, scores, game sheets and more information, please visit http://www.bchighschoolbasketballchampionships.com/
Single game and tournament passes are available for sale online. Games are also available to stream through pay-per-view at tfsetv.ca.
Photos courtesy of Langley Events Centre
