In the wildcard game, the Maple Ridge Thomas Haney Thunder clipped the Nanaimo District Islanders 64-49. Kelly O’Grady led the Islanders with 20. Angel Mack added 10 and Nikki Kaufman 10. Islanders coach Tom Elwood told the Nanaimo Daily News that “we actually played well. In the end, they were just a better team. … We just weren’t bit enough to rebound consistently.”
In the opening round, held at North Vancouver’s Capilano College: …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Port Moody Blues edged the 10th-seeded North Vancouver Carson Graham Eagles 49-45. Port Moody coaches Sue and Dave Sands became proud parents of an eight-pound boy the day before the tourney started. Sue was on the floor, though, guiding the Blues when they lined-up. “This is where I feel most comfortable,” said Sands. “This is my family. I see those girls on the team at least as much as I see my regular family. They were the ones around me when I was pregnant and when I was crabby and when I was moody. It’s nice for them to be a part of it all.” Sands, 36, began to have contractions during a final preparation session before the provincials. Since it’s her second child (she and her husband have a two-year-old daughter, Kendall), she knew she had some time and opted to stay at the workout, although she did limit her role. She was afraid the players might panic, so she didn’t tell them what was going on until the end of the practice, when she let out, “OK, we’re going to the hospital to have the baby. We’ll see you on Wednesday.” She had the baby in four hours, at 1 a.m., and was discharged from the hospital 12 hours later, with a clean bill of health for herself and Kai. She had planned just to watch the Blues’ game Wednesday against the Eagles from the stands but it ended up being a back-and-forth tilt and she was on the bench, beside her husband, midway through the second quarter. “I think that’s part of what makes our team our team — the balance in the coaching with Sue and I,” said Sands, 35. “I see things very much one way and she sees them another. She came over to the bench yesterday and was like, ‘get them doing this, get them doing that.’ Her presence on the bench was a calming effect on the girls. It allowed them to just go out and play.” Centre Jen Lodge noted that “she’s just so tough. She’s unbelievable. We love her.” For her part, Sands understands that role-model role, even though it does embarrass her. “I get the fact that they admire me. There’s a respect there. It’s calm. It’s not like they’re jumping all over me. But I can see that there’s a little bit of awe there. It’s not why I do it. It’s just who I am.” The Eagles included Megan Campbell, Nicola Gilderstone, Jessica Simiss, Ashley Palmer. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded North Vancouver Handsworth Royals dumped the 8th-seeded Chilliwack Tillicums 67-62. The Royals rallied from a 15-point fourth quarter deficit as Erica McGuinness took command, including hitting four free throws in the final minute to pull out the win. “That was so exciting – the funnest game we’ve played all year,” McGuinness told the Vancouver Sun. “We didn’t know what to expect from Chilliwack because we haven’t played them all year. But they’re a good team and we needed to shoot the ball well to stay with them.” McGuinness’ father, Brian, had coached the Royals until 2001 but got a job teaching at Mission Heritage Park and McGuiness was slated to transfer there but the family couldn’t find a house to their liking, Erica transferred back to Handsworth in October, a few weeks before the start of the season. Father Shaun commuted every day from the family home in North Vancouver. “He’ll probably just wear Basketball Canada stuff and be like, ‘Go Basketball’,” McGuinness told the Vancouver Province, when asked whether her father would be cheering for the Royals or the kids he teaches. “Of course, I think he’d better be cheering for me. It’s going to be a little weird, mainly because they know the way that I play. I did think about playing them this year after I left. But I was like, ‘When are we going to run up against them? In the provincials? Come on’.” Chilliwack was up 52-37 early in the fourth and seemed to have things well in hand. With McGuinness leading the way, the Royals caught fire and went on an 11-3 run to cut the margin to 55-48. The teams traded baskets for the next while, running the score to 61-54, but then Chilliwack star Jane Meadwell fouled out with 3:21 to go and the momentum swung completely to Handsworth. Tara McNeill’s bucket with 1:48 to go got Handsworth to within one, at 62-61. Kate Culbard’s putback with 40 seconds left gave them a 63-62 lead and McGuinness then canned two pairs of free throws to clinch it. McGuinness finished with 29 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Tara McNeill added 13. Jane Meadwell scored 21 to lead the Tillicums, who failed to score a field goal in the final 5:05. Laura Hallinan added 18. The Royals got 13 points off turnovers to Chilliwack’s 9, and 15 second-chance points to Chilliwack’s 2. The Tillicums (coached by Bill Ogmundson) also included Shantelle Murphy, Natasha Younker, Shantelle Murphy, Karla Dyck, Lisa Hofstede, Michelle Wellsby. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Mission Heritage Park Highlanders thrashed the 16th-seeded Terrace Caledonia Kermodes 85-35. The Highlanders outscored the Kermodes 27-2 in the first quarter and romped. Highlanders point guard Sarah Stroh suffered a sprained flexor tendon in her left arm in the Fraser Valley playoffs and did not play. “It feels OK now, but I can’t dribble or catch,” Stroh told the Vancouver Province. It’s getting better. We’re going day by day. It’s physio every day and lots of ice.” Kim Smith hit 13-16 from the floor as she scored 27. Katja Feuss and Julia Wilson each added 12. Gillian Cook paced the Kermodes with 16. The Kermodes (coached by Bill Gook) also included Lexie Atrill, Leah Malo. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Salmon Arm Jewels crushed the 15th-seeded Cranbrook Mount Baker Wild 77-22. The Jewels forced 49 turnovers. Lindsay Maundrell led the Jewels with 15. Point guard Lani Gibbons added 14 on 4-9 from the arc, along with 5 assists, and Mandy Trenholm 10. “It was a good start for us and nice to have a game where we didn’t have to extend ourselves,” Jewels coach Brian Gibbons told the Vancouver Sun. “We played pretty good defence in the first half and got a lot of points off our defence. This is a game where you try to identify your weaknesses and work on them. The tournament gets tougher after this.” Heather Johnson paced the Wild with 5. The Wild also included Jennifer Anderberg, K Hamagami, Sandi Rennie. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Maple Ridge Ramblers dumped the 14th-seeded Prince George Polars 86-55 as Kelsie Thu scored 29, while notching 6 steals and 2 assists. Jordana Miltimore added 26. Point guard Ciana Gregorio, recovering from a torn knee ligament, scored 8 in 15 minutes of play. “The knee is still sore and I was a bit slow on defence,” Gregorio told the Vancouver Sun. “But it’s getting better and I hope to contribute more as the tournament goes along.” Anna Zielke led the Polars with 15. Jennifer Seeman added 10. The Polars also included Kristine Hamilton, Deb Kerrigan, Robyn Kaplan. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded New Westminster Hyacks dumped the 12th-seeded Victoria St. Michaels University Blue Jaguars 71-59. “We’re building off the Lower Mainlands,” guard Krista Woodward told the Vancouver Sun. “We’re feeling a bit stronger, believing in ourselves a little more after that win.” Blue Jags coach Steve MacDonald said his troops inexperience was a liability. “This is the first time any of them have had experience at this level. I’m just really proud of the way these girls came out and battled. They showed they deserve to be here.” Woodward, an elite level javelin thrower who scored 34, noted that “it’s weird to think at the end of this week I will probably never do this again, at least not play basketball at a competitive level like this. I’ve been playing basketball since I was three, and now to have just three games left is kind of unbelievable. But I’m always looking forward to track and field season. I have to admit I’m counting down the days to the track provincials. But I hope this is a good week.” Molly Stelmack added 19, along with 5 steals, for the Hyacks. Beckie MacDonald paced the Blue Jaguars with 33. The Hyacks gave five minutes to grade eight 6-2 post Fiona Kayitesi. “To bring her up was a big gamble,” Hyacks coach Doug Woodward told the Vancouver Sun. “She’s come a long way. We started her against Brookswood about three weeks ago, she gets a little better every time. Now she gets to see the best, she just has to play more. And she may even grow a bit more. Next year she’ll be even better but I think her big year will be Grade 10, and we have a couple of Grade 10s now who will Grade 12 and leaders with her so the future looks very good.” The Blue Jaguars were formerly known as the Blue Devils. “They changed the name after Steve Nash left,” MacDonald told the Vancouver Sun. “I guess some people in the community didn’t like the (devil) connotation. So, we had no name for a while, just SMU, then this season we decided to get another name. The students took a vote and Blue Jags, for Jaguars, won out. I guess it will take a little time to get used to after people got so familiar with Blue Devils, especially with someone like Steve Nash making it so well-known.” The Blue Jaguars (coached by Steve MacDonald, assistant Etienne Orr-Ewing, assistant J.H. Adsworth) also included Anna Barianova, Rebekka Keough, Claire Tweedie, Jaclyn Flaten, Andrea Thompson, Robin Pierce, Jo Wynn, Meara Crawford, Zoe Gamache, Alexandra Ballantyne, Corryn Cravin, A L_ddy, Dalyce Skelton, Alexandra Mrdjenovich, Milik Mrdjenovich and W Hay (Hat?). …………………………………………………… The 11th seeded wildcard Maple Ridge Thomas Haney Thunder stunned the 6th-seeded Victoria Mount Douglas Rams 52-45 in overtime. The game was tied at 44 after regulation and the Thunder pulled out the win with five critical free throws by post Kim Howe in the extra session. “In a lot of ways these teams are quite even and it showed as we had to go into overtime,” Thunder coach Kerry Rokosh told the Vancouver Sun. “I knew coming in this would be a hard game and I’m just really happy we could come out and do this. We weren’t getting any breaks in the Fraser Valley and we finally got some breaks; the ball rolled our way but either team could have won.” The thunder led 26-18 at the half. “We played them before Christmas but we hadn’t really seen them since then so we just came out knowing what we needed to do to be successful,” said Thunder guard Christina Hines. “That meant playing good defence, taking care of the ball and making those free throws. Going into overtime we did those same things, especially the defence and the free throws.” Player of the game Christina Hines added 11 points and 4 steals. Cait Haggarty led the Rams with 13. The Rams (coached by Brett Douglas) also included Stephanie Brown, Rafael Griffin, Katie Rushton, Chrissie Carrigan, Kate Rushton. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Langley Brookswood Bobcats dumped the 13th-seeded North Vancouver Argyle Pipers 67-53 as Caitlyn Pankratz scored 29 on 12-14 from the floor and 12 boards, Lauren Van Den Boogaard 13 and Danica Boyce 10. The Pipers included Kelsey Blair, Miranda Moscipan, Amy Walls, Janine Kerr.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Mission Heritage Park Highlanders crushed the 9th-seeded North Vancouver Handsworth Royals 63-33. Kim Smith led the Highlanders with 16. Lisa Sigurdson added 12, Katja Feuss 9, Jessi Laslo 8 and Julia Wilson 8. Erica McGuinness paced the Royals with 11. “We have so many little things we can concentrate on, we never want to let anything go defensively, we want to make sure we are at our best offensively,” rookie Highlanders coach Frank Chan told the Vancouver Sun. “So to have things to work on within a game keeps us focused because upsets can happen, they do happen. If you let people have the opportunity to score, they will and we’re not about to create opportunities for them. … I don’t really have to say anything to them now. These kids understand that nothing is a given, I’ve worked hard to reinforce that with them. Look at the Canadian men’s hockey team at the Olympics, they lost their first game and who would have predicted that? What about the St. Louis Rams? We talk about this a lot and our kids don’t believe they’re the greatest. We just want to go out and play basketball.” Royals coach Vern Porter said “it was fun getting a chance to play them, it can only help our girls get better next year. Heritage is the best team here. Salmon Arm has played Heritage tough in one game this year but Salmon Arm doesn’t have the height. Heritage is just so tough to play. We tried to press them today but they just throw the ball over the press.” The Royals shot .234 from the floor. The Royals (coached by Porter) also included Tara McNeill, Stephanie Haug, Kate Culbard, Marissa Porter.
The 2nd-seeded Salmon Arm Jewels whipped the 7th-seeded Port Moody Blues 69-43. Sharpshooting guard Lindsay Maundrell and the Jewels defence proved the difference. They limited the Blues to .320 from the field. Their offence, though, was missing in the first half. They shot .300 from the floor before the break but then exploded for 47 per cent, helping them blow open a game that they had led 32-22 at the half. Maundrell led the Jewels with 14. Lani Gibbons added 11, along with 10 steals and 9 assists. “Right now, we’re not looking any farther ahead than the semi- finals,” a Gibbons told the Vancouver Sun. “We’re pleased how we’re playing as a team – setting a good tempo and shooting the ball pretty well. I think we’re also playing good defence. We’re really hoping that we continue to play well because this tournament is getting tougher with every game.” Emily Beers led the Blues with 14, along with 7 boards. Jen Lodge added 13, along with 9 boards. “We knew the Jewels would be tough,” Beers said. “Most people thought that us beating Salmon Arm was a longshot and realistically it was. But you have to come in wanting to win the game. We would have had to play a perfect game to win. They play tough defence and, offensively, kept on running around. It was hard to keep up with the pace of the game. We were having trouble just getting the pass to the wing.” Jewels coach Brian Gibbons said “we’ve set a good tempo in our games and shot the ball pretty well. But I’d like to see a little more discipline in the defensive end. We can play better in that area.” The Blues (coached by Dave Sands and Sue Sands) also included Jenny MacCullogh.
The 4th-seeded Langley Brookswood Bobcats dumped the 5th-seeded New Westminster Hyacks 75-65. It was interesting season for the Bobcats. Four players, small forward Breianna Gaines, point guard Caroline Samus, centre Ann DeReus and shooting guard Shanane Liem, left Brookswood at Christmas because they suddenly found themselves without transportation to the Langley school. The quartet lived in the New Westminster-Burnaby area and relied on their coach for rides to and from Langley on school days. But their coach, Steve Tanaka, was deported to the United States on a 30-year-old drug charge. Tanaka’s real name is Steve Iwami and he had disappeared from the United States in 1973 before a conviction for selling cocaine was upheld on appeal in American courts. He was last held in custody in Washington state before being transferred to a prison to serve his sentence. The Bobcats rallied to make the tournament and led by as many as 24 before the Hyacks, in turn, rallied to knot the score at 63. The Bobcats had the answer though, exploding for a 12-2 run to close out the affair. “With all that we’ve been through, we probably shouldn’t have even gotten to this game,” Grade 10 point guard Sarah Cameron, who became a major contributor when the players quit and Scott Reeves took over as coach, told the Vancouver Province. “That’s what makes this win so awesome. It’s been like three seasons in one for most of the people on this team.” Laura van den Boogaard paced the Bobcats with 23. Caitlyn Pankratz added 18 and Chelsea McMullan 16. The Hyacks (coached by Doug Woodward) included Krista Woodward, Mollie Stelmack, Liz Smith, Fiona Kayitesi, Kelsey Bowman, Lindsay Hallman.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Maple Ridge Ramblers defeated the 11th-seeded Maple Ridge Thomas Haney Thunder 47-31. “We’ve played Maple Ridge so many times we kind of thought it was our turn to win and when it was 25-25 in the third quarter, I thought we were going to get it,” said Thunder coach Kerry Rokosh. It was the seventh consecutive time the Ramblers had beat the Thunder during the season. The Thunder (coached by Roskosh) included Kimberley Howe, Ashley Neufeld, Lindsay Macdonald, Christina Hines.
In the semi-finals, the Salmon Arm Jewels crushed the Maple Ridge Ramblers 63-36 as Lindsay Maundrell scored 18. “We played good defence against Maple Ridge in the second half tonight and it’s the major reason why we won,” Maundrell told the Vancouver Sun. Lani Gibbons added 14, along with 8 assists, and Jill Hanson 13. The Jewels hit .431 from the floor, while the Ramblers hit .182. Kelsie Thu led the Ramblers with 14. “Salmon Arm’s defence was outstanding,” said Maple Ridge head coach Don Herman. “We had a good defensive first half but we just couldn’t answer the bell in the second half.” The Jewels led 25-17 at the half, despite playing most of the frame without shooting guard Nadeane Jackson, who was in foul trouble.
In the other semi, the Mission Heritage Park Highlanders defeated Langley Brookswood Bobcats 62-47 to qualify for its fourth consecutive provincial final. The Highlanders led 21-6 after one quarter. Julie Wilson paced the Highlanders with 20. Caitlyn Pankratz led the Bobcats with 13. Chelsea McMullan added 13. Bobcat Laura van den Boogaard told the Langley Advance that “Heritage Park is a pretty strong team, obviously. They have it all. They have four starters over 6-0 tall and their point guard Kim Smith is on the national team. They can run the court. They can do anything.”
In the bronze medal match, the 3rd-seeded Maple Ridge Ramblers defeated the Langley Brookswood Bobcats 50-41 after leading 16-8 at the first quarter. Danica Boyce led the Bobcats with 12. Bobcat post Laura Van Den Boogaard told the Langley Advance that “I don’t know if we were emotionally and mentally draimed from the last game, but we just came out flat.” The Bobcats also included Caitlyn Pankratz, Chelsea McMullan.
In the final, the Mission Heritage Park Highlanders captured their third successive title by defeating the Salmon Arm Jewels 56-49 as Kim Smith scored 18 points on 7-17 from the floor, 2-2 from the arc and 2-2 from the line, while grabbing 13 boards and dishing out 6 assists; Katja Fuess 13 and 6 boards; Julia Wilson 14 on 7-16 from the floor and 7 boards; Kendra McLellan 5 and 7 boards; Jessie Laslo 4 and Lisa Sigurdson 2. The Highlanders shot 23-49 from the floor, 3-5 from the arc and 7-11 from the line, while garnering 39 boards, 15 assists and 11 fouls. Defensive player of the tournament Lani Gibbons led Salmon Arm with 16 points on 4-18 from the floor and 7-8 from the line. Lindsay Maundrell added 14 on 7-19 from the floor and 7 boards, while Maria Waring scored 5, Nadeane Jackson 4, Sarah Knipe 4, Mandy Trenholm 2, Andrew Lazzarotto 2, Theresa Knipe 2, Danielle Vandervelde 0, Jill Hanson 0, Jana Myers 0, Karen Bridge 0 and Natasha Arthur 0. The Jewels shot 19-62 from the floor, 1-13 from the arc, and 10-13 from the line, while grabbing 34 boards, handing out 13 assists and committing 13 fouls. With the win, the Highlanders seized their 82nd straight high school victory by capitalizing on the shooting of Kim Smith, the shot blocking of Julia Wilson and the defence of Katja Feuss. “This is the best of the three years because a lot of us are graduating now and it feels so good to go out on top,” Smith told the Vancouver Sun. “Our plan was to play tough defence, rebound hard. Our whole team was here last year, in the same final, so we knew we just had to get control of the game and stay poised and be confident. … “There’s a lot of excitement with this win. But it’s sad in a way, because we’re all heading off now to compete in different places — but that’s exciting, too. I think we’re all ready for a new challenge, to take some new steps.” The Highlanders led 34-19 at the half but the Jewels rallied with an 18-9 third quarter to trim the margin to six. But Smith and Wilson responded with buckets to restore a double-digit working margin and the Highlands pulled away down the stretch. “Heritage is a huge team, it was tough,” said Lani Gibbons. “Our team worked really hard tonight. We’re really proud of ourselves. They came in as the big favorites but we made them work for this win. It wasn’t a walkover for them.” Highlanders coach Frank Chan was relieved. “Now I feel about 45 but I expect I’ll be feeling younger soon. Salmon Arm definitely came out and made our kids play. I’m kind of speechless right now because I’m really happy. The season’s over and I’m glad we accomplished this. The play of Kim Smith? She is no doubt the MVP. She deserves every accolade she gets because she puts in the time. People have to understand the time she puts in and that’s why she’s so good.” Salmon Arm coach Brian Gibbons said errant shooting proved the difference. “My kids played with a lot of heart and they really worked on the defensive end of it. We needed a few more shots to fall just to make it a little closer but I’m not dissatisfied with the effort. It was our best effort this year. Most teams just want to keep the score down when they play Heritage but we wanted to compete with them.” It was the Highlanders toughest game of the year. They’d had an average winning scoring margin of 41 ppg on the season. “I love close games,” Highlanders post Julia Wilson, told the Vancouver Province. “They are way more exciting. I actually feel like we pulled something out tonight. Kim Smith, who was chosen tournament MVP for a second straight time, added: “it was a good game. That makes it way more fun.” The Highlanders, as they have done so often, dominated in the first quarter and led 20-7 after one period. Smaller but quicker Salmon Arm never gave up, though, and eventually wore Heritage Park down to the point where they trailed only 43-37 at the end of the third. The Highlanders, behind Smith, started the fourth on a 10-4 run to go up 53-41, and Salmon Arm never recovered. Salmon Arm put on the show with hustle, as they did things like out-rebound Heritage Park on the offensive glass 14-10, despite having just one 6-footer compared with Heritage Park’s four. “Our goal was to get to the final,” said Jewels coach Brian Gibbons. “Once we got there, we decided that we’d just come out and enjoy it.” Wilson said that “before the game, I was so nervous. I knew that they had the capability of beating us. They buzzed around like bees out there and they tired us out.” The Highlanders won it even though point guard Sarah Stroh missed the entire tournament during Fraser Valley qualifiers. Wilson told the Vancouver Sun that “playing with [Kim Smith] has been just awesome; I’m so sad I can’t play with her next year. We wanted to go out with a bang and to end on a winning note like this is fantastic. The last 24 hours were so nerve-wracking. For so many of us in Grade 12 we wanted to go out like this, it’s the best way to go out. Kim deserves a lot of credit, she’s been a great teammate and Utah is lucky to get her.” Gibbons lauded Smith’s play. “She is an excellent player and created some huge match-up problems for us. I thought we did a good job on her, although it seemed like she scored about 30 points or more. Nadeane Jackson, who had the assignment on her, played really hard. You can’t ask any more of kids against a player like that.” Gibbons told the Salmon Arm Observor that “we had a slow start offensively. They’re so big, that takes away some of our offensive options. We lost some poise on offence early. Our defence, though, was superb. That’s how we got back into the game. … A lot of teams jammed the inside against Heritage. That wasn’t our philosophy. We went after them on the perimeter.”
The bronze medalist Maple Ridge Ramblers: Kelsie Thu; Jordana Miltimore; Kristy Heskell; Ciana Gregorio; Terra Davenport; coach Don Herman
The silver medalist Salmon Arm Jewels: Lani Gibbons; Lindsay Maundrell; Maria Waring; Nadeane Jackson; Sarah Knipe; Mandy Trenholm; Andrew Lazzarotto; Theresa Knipe; Danielle Vandervelde; Jill Hanson; Jana Myers; Karen Bridge; Natasha Arthur; coach Brian Gibbons
The gold medalist Mission Heritage Park Highlanders; Kim Smith; Katja Fuess; Kendra McLellan; Julia Wilson; Lisa Sigurdson; Jessie Laslo; Julie Markgraf; Aleisha Kirk; Jillian McRae; Katherine Reed; Beatriz Guevara; Sarah Reeves; Sarah Stroh; coach Frank Chan