In the opening round, held in Langley: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Victoria Oak Bay Bays dusted the 16th-seeded Cranbrook Mt. Baker Wild 73-36 as Natalie Froese scored 16, Jasmine Lambert 13 and Sophie de Goede 13. The Breakers led 45-12 at the half. Sydney Marlow led the Wild with 6. The Wild (coached by Al Nutini) also included Kal Taye, Haylee Thomas, Kiara Ker, Chayne Plaza, Justyn Mackie, Summer Blackmore, Lacey Reay, Camryn Spring, Kaliana Ewaskow, Natalie Armstrong, MacKenzie Nelson, Jessica Armstrong, Mary Amsing and Rachel Hubick. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Surrey Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers whacked the 9th-seeded Richmond Robert A. McMath Wildcats 86-44 as Maryn Budiman scored 22, Shelvin Grewal 20, Harnett Sidhu 14 and Brianne Boufford 10. Abby Zawada paced the Wildcats with 17. The Wildcats (coached by Anne Gillrie-Clark and Chris Kennedy) also included Elizabeth Kennedy, Alyssa Azote, Jessica Porter, Dakota Chan, Martha Melaku, Alina Badyal, Shania Faleiro, Allison Fast, Jalen Donaldson, Morgan Flynn and Mahara Gibson-Zeinoun. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Langley Walnut Grove Gators crushed the 13th-seeded Nanaimo Dover Bay Dolphins 91-62 as Jess Wisotzki and Tavia Rowell combined to score 47. The Gators led 25-12 after one quarter. Madeline Hart led the Dolphins with 20, along with 7 boards. Jessica Roy added 15. The Dolphins (coached by Rick Hart) also included Cara Dunlop, Melody Meadows, Mackenzie Boas, Morgan Heese, Anne Garretts, Sophia Fan, Mikaela Srdic, Sarah Zuccaro, Taylor Matsuo and Emily Till. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Surrey Panorama Ridge Thunder blasted the 12th-seeded Vancouver Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs 78-41 as Savannah Dhaliwal scored 31, nabbed 7 boards, dished 7 assists and blocked 3 shots. Simrit Bindra added 14, while Arsh Gill nabbed 13 boards. Alexa Leynes led the Bulldogs with 13. Katrina Kwong added 11. The Bulldogs (coached by Jennifer Eng, assisted by Sabrina Chan) also included Stefanie Asuncion, Sabrina Cao, Michelle Huang, Klarisa Mcdonald, Kristy Shum, Debbie Chong, Julie Lee, Sarika Kumar, Trisha Pajayon and Carly Dhanda. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Abbotsford Panthers clocked the 15th-seeded Prince George Polars 97-56 as Sienna Lenz scored 34 on 15-20 from the floor. Marin Lenz added 21, Sydney Fetterly 12 and Kelsey Roufosse 12. Nusa Zorko led the Polars with 13. The Polars (coached by Tracy Cole) also included Balkiran Minhas, Madilyn Dickson, Erin Cole, Cassandra Baker, Hannah Rogers, Amanda Heinze, Keanna Ranu and Ashley Foster. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded North Vancouver Argyle Pipers edged the 10th-seeded Abbotsford Yale Lions 65-62. Sierra Scheffer was called for travelling on a runout and then a technical after complaining about contact on the next possession, prompting Pipers coach Anthony Beyrouti to briefly bench her. But she soon returned to the floor and hit several critical buckets, including a pair of treys, for the Lions as they pulled out the win after the Lions rallied from a 14-point deficit to tie the game. “Sierra hit some huge shots down the stretch after she got called for the tech,” Argyle coach Anthony Beyrouti. “She had lost her composure a bit so we pulled her out to re-focus her.” Scheffer scored 35. Georgia Swant added 17. Madison Draayers led Yale with 23, including 11 in the fourth quarter. Tana Pankratz added 11 and Selah Pankratz 10. The Lions (coached by Theresa Chan and Celeste Dyck) also included Sapna Deo, Tyra Brereton, Sarah Thiessen, Brooklyn White, Chelsea Paivarinta, Sierra Janzen, Jessica Daley and Emmy Curtis. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Langley Brookswood Bobcats smacked the 14th-seeded Victoria Claremont Spartans 79-55 as Louise Forsyth scored 29, Tavia Jasper 15 and Jenna Dick 15. Bobcats guard Lyric Custodio suffered a season-ending knee injury. Abby MacMillan-Beauchamp led the Spartans with 12. Lauren Stinson-Montgomery added 11. The Spartans (coached by Darren Reisig) also included Payton Wergeland, Pay Cochrane, Sierra Reisig, Mackenzie Messelink, Chloe Scaber, Maddie Manns, Thea Matthews, Tijanne Matthews, Kayleigh Rehman, Annette Babcook and Kasha Ross. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Kelowna Owls rolled the 11th-seeded North Vancouver Carson Graham Eagles 58-37. Owls guard Courtney Donaldson, who’d suffered an ankle injury at the start of the season, told VarsityLetters.ca that her recovery “was pretty rough. It felt like it was taking forever to heal. All the rehab, watching practice, form shooting. Now, I’m finally back on the court.” Donaldson’s presence on the court, said Owls coach Darren Semeniuk “gives us a dynamic where we can run the ball through her. When we put her at the point of attack, it really opens up our shooters.” Dez Day led the Owls with 15 on 6-10 from the floor. Alley Corrado added 9, Kennedy Dickie 9, Donaldson 8 and Chelsea Espenberg 5. The Owls led 9-8 after one quarter but elevated their defensive intensity in the second quarter and romped. “We have been working on this all year, we are smaller overall so we have to use our speed to our advantage, against teams that maybe don’t have two or three ball-handlers,” said Semeniuk. “We’ve always got two or three girls that can get up and force the issue, so as soon as we saw them hesitate in the first half, that was going to be our plan for the rest of the game.” Alex Walker led the Eagles with 10, along with 9 boards. Chloe Brebner added 8, along with 8 boards. The Eagles (coached by Cameron Nelson) also included Erika Calaycay, Hannah Channon, Zekeya Baguinon, Gabby Channon, Mackenzie Twist, Kaitlyn Elliott, Tanis Metcalfe, Brooke Marklund, Mauvy Allan and Georgia Nelson.
In the quarterfinals, the 8th-seeded Surrey Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers stunned the top-seeded and previously undefeated (28-0) Victoria Oak Bay Breakers 81-78 as Shelvin Grewal scored 35, including 9-17 from the arc, one of which proved to be the game-winning trey in the final minute. Panthers coach Curtis McCrae said “it was an absolutely amazing evening! Two teams with opposite styles going at it, one that was big and slower and the other that was quick and shoots fast.” McRae told VarsityLetters.ca that “what can you say? The No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the province matching up in a quarterfinal is not the way we planned it. It’s not the match-up we wanted to see. They had beaten everyone they had played pretty convincingly this season.” Maryn Budiman added 33 for the Panthers on 6-12 from the arc. Georgia Alexander led the Breakers with 22, along with 14 boards. Sophie de Goede added 21, along with 21 boards, Imogen White 15, along with 10 boards, and Natalie Froese 4, along with 4 boards. The game was tied 10 times and the lead changed hands 14 times. “We knew we had two completely different styles of basketball coming at each other,” McRae said. “It was a bigger, slow-it-down paced team against a smaller, three-point shooting team that was going to push the tempo and turn it into a track meet. (Oak Bay) pounded it inside, but I think we shot the three-ball better than we ever have.” The Panthers hit 14-38 from the floor and 16-31 from the arc. The Breakers outrebounded the Panthers 31-23. Oak Bay coach Rob Kinnear said “when the draw came out, we knew it was going to be tough, but at the same time, we came here to win it, and we were going to have to beat them at some point. I think they are the best team in B.C.. I wish them all the luck.” The Breakers (coached by Rob Kinnear) included Fiona Headen, Hannah Kitson, Jasmine Lambert, Ella Calder, Natalie Froese, Georgia Alexander, Judy Cristante, Bego de Santiago, Sophie de Goede, Ali Gallant and Imogen White.
The 5th-seeded Surrey Panorama Ridge Thunder dispatched the Langley Walnut Grove Gators 85-70. “The last time we played them, we had 26 turnovers at the half, and then another 10 in the second half, and we were 11-of-23 from the line,” Thunder coach John Sowerby told VarsityLetters.ca. “Tonight? Totally different story.” The Thunder committed 17 turnovers and hit 10-15 from the line, while forward Savannah Dhaliwal scored 46 on 18-27 from the floor. “That is what we talked about, being physical,” said Sowerby. “It’s something we still need to work on, but we have to be smart with it. Today, Sav had a great game.” Dhaliwal said “they played a fantastic game and Tavia (Rowell) still shot the lights out even when we had a game plan for her. Overall, we used our physicality to our advantage. … Honestly, I am just so proud of my teammates, that we came out and did it as a unit. Words cannot describe the joy of that. They had beaten us three times, but we had the size (advantage) on them and if we came out and played our game, with our toughness, no one was going to stop us.” The game was tied 7 times and lead changed hands 12 times. Arsh Gill and Simrat Dosanjh each added 7 for the Thunder. Rowell paced the Gators with 29. Jessica Wisotzki added 18, along with 13 boards, Natalie Rathler 12, along with 11 boards, while Leah Fortin nabbed 14 boards. The Gators (coached by Darren Rowell) also included Jenna Stea, Rachel Mullen, Rolande Taylor, Alexandra Tadic, Jordan Jacobs and Tina Tao.
The 2nd-seeded Abbotsford Panthers whipped the 7th-seeded North Vancouver Argyle Pipers 67-36. “This team is pretty gritty,” Panthers coach Prentice Lenz told VarsityLetters.ca. “It’s been quite a roller-coaster ride for them. So, they have bought in pretty substantially that you’re going to have days where everything isn’t going to go in, and you are not going to shoot 75 per cent from the field all the time.” Both teams struggled to score until the fourth quarter, when the Panthers pumped in 21. “They have an exceptional team and two very exceptional girls who can really score,” Lenz said of senior Sierra Scheffer and Grade 11 Georgia Swant who combined for 20. “They were our focus and we did a nice job, I thought, of making sure they didn’t get on a roll.” Sienna Lenz led the Panthers with 21. Marin Lenz added 19, Kelsey Roufosse 13 and Sydney Fetterly 10. The Pipers (coached by Anthony Beyrouti) also included Maxine Yee, Kayla Williams, Emma Archer, Meg Howitt, Kayla Escat, Maya Napier, Laura Holt, Julia Tancom, Chloe Walton, Emily Seddon, Kiana Mackay, Sahar Balanji, Saila Deschamps, Cloe Harris, Hailie McAndrew, Hope Pearmain, Lauren Ritchey, Faythe Walters and Camie Ward.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Langley Brookswood Bobcats mauled the 6th-seeded Kelowna Owls 76-56 as Louise Forsyth scored 27 on 11-23 from the floor, despite missing her first 8 shots. Brooklyn Golt added 16, Jenna Dick 15 and Janessa Knapp 10. The Bobcats benefitted from the efforts of several defensive role players, including Tavia Jasper. “Sometimes I want to think about offence but it’s not really my role,” defensive stopped Tavia Jasper told VarsityLetters.ca. Jasper scored 2 but helped contain the Owls to 5 in the second quarter. “I’m OK with it. I do what the team needs me to do.” Bobcats coach Neil Brown said “Tavia is our most committed kid, our bravest kid. If I had five Tavia Jaspers, it would be hard for any team to score 40 points against us because she is just tenacious. Today she took two or three charges, she is diving face-first on the floor.” The Bobcats effectively contained Owls star Courtney Donaldson. “We wanted to see if the other four (starters) could play,” said Brown. Kennedy Dickie paced the Owls with 17. Alley Corrado added 16 and Donaldson 7. “I feel like if you bring negative energy, you’re play is going to do down,” Jasper said. “And when that happens you will lose.” The Owls led 14-13 after one quarter. The Bobcats led 36-19 at the half. “Skill-wise I knew we matched up to Kelowna, but energy-wise?” said Jasper. “Courtney does a great job of getting their girls going.” The Owls (coached by Dennis Semeniuk, assisted by Heather Semeniuk) also included Kasey Patchell, Madison Dickie, Chelsea Espenberg, Rachel Hare, Dez Day, Abby Cullen, Rene Watson, Madi Martens and Grace DeMug.
In the semis, the 8th-seeded Surrey Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers edged the 5th-seeded Surrey Panorama Ridge Thunder 66-64. “When you come off a huge win like we did last night, the fear is that you come out flat and soft in the next game,” said Lord Tweedsmuir Head Coach Curtis McCrae. “That happened tonight. Their best player was dominant in the first half but our girls adjusted and battled in the second half and really changed the tide with our defence.” Panthers coach Curtis McRae told VarsityLetters.ca that guard Harneet Sidhu’s ability to hit shots in the face of the Thunder’s junk defences designed to contain Tweedsmuir star Maryn Bundiman proved the difference. “She is a Grade 11 that has been huge for us in every single game, and she is our third-leading scorer. There were so many times today and even yesterday (in an 81-78 win over No. 1 Oak Bay) where she made a huge difference.” Driving through defenders to sink tough banks off glass and hitting treys, Sidhu shot 9-17 from the field while the Thunder collapsed their defence on Budiman, who scored 21 on 4-15 from the field and 10-12 from the line. McCrae said the early doldrums weren’t surprising. “When you come off a huge win like we had last night, the fear is that you will come out soft and flat. That is what happened tonight. They threw a triangle-and-two against us, and honestly, it’s something we’ve never seen. Now we know how to beat it but we didn’t figure it out until late in the game.” Budiman, with 1:20 left in a 62-62 tie, was fouled from three-point range and hit all three of her free throws. Thunder forward Arsh Gill notched a putback with 31 seconds left before Shelvin Grewal iced it for the Panthers with a free throw with 3 seconds on the clock. Savannah Dhaliwal led the Panthers with 21, along with 18 boards, 6 assists, 4 blocks and 2 steals. Simrat Dosanjh added 20, including 6 treys.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Abbotsford Panthers nipped the 3rd-seeded Langley Brookswood Bobcats 69-65. Grade 11 guard Sienna Lenz drained a trey with 42 seconds to play to give the Panthers a 66-63 lead and then added 2 free throws with 5.4 seconds to play to ensure the outcome. Lenz scored 31, and nabbed 18 boards. Her sister Marin Lenz, added 14, Sydney Fetterly 10 and Kelsey Roufosse 9, along with 11 boards. “Even though we’re young, we have developed so much in the past year,” Roufosse told VarsityLetters.ca. “It’s really brought us to this point, and now, to be in the championship (final) is amazing.” Louise Forsyth led the Bobcats with 29, along with 15 boards. Jenna Dick added 15 and Brooklyn Golt 10. “It’s a tough one to swallow,” said Bobcats’ coach Chris Veale, “but if you ever get in a fight, you’re not going to just stand there and get punched, so we went down swinging.” The Bobcats built an 11-point lead but the Panthers clawed back. At the start of the fourth quarter, with the Panthers trailing 55-53, Prentice Lenz returned defenders Gabrielle MacGregor and Roufosse to the floor, even though each had 4 fouls. “They mean so much because they battle so hard,” Lenz said. “(Gabrielle) just gives her heart and soul to us, she defends and she goes after everything. And Kelsey is such a huge presence for us inside. We were just going to ride out whatever we had to ride out and then if we had to deal with something else, we would. We’ve dealt with things all year that way. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Tonight, it worked.” Sienna Lenz said “tonight we just gritted it out. We’ve all matured a lot. Last year was our first year at senior. And to get that experience of intensity was great.” The Panthers shot .430 from the floor.
In the bronze medal match, the 3rd-seeded Langley Brookswood Bobcats dispatched the 5th-seeded Surrey Panorama Ridge Thunder 84-77. “I have been in eight or so third place games, never won one,” Bobcats coach Neil Brown told the Langley Times. “It has never been an interest of mine; my interest has always been first. But it is always nice to medal.” The Bobcats trailed by 9 at the half and by as many as 11 but outscored the Thunder 27-12 to take a 2-point lead into the fourth quarter and never trailed again. Louise Forsyth paced the Bobcats with 24, including 5-6 free throws down the stretch. Jenna Dick added 20, including 4 treys, Janessa Knapp 12, Mana Katori 11, Brooklyn Galt 10 and Tavia Jasper 5. Brown said that the team showed signs of undisciplined, selfish offensive play, which was also a big factor in the team’s semifinal loss the night before, 69-65 to the Abbotsford Panthers. The coach said once he took those players out of the game, the players received the message and Brookswood rallied. “It was a valuable lesson learned by everybody. When everyone is involved, we can play. We came together as a team and other people starting contributing,” Forsyth said. “I think it was really important to show that we could bounce back after a tough loss,” she said. The Thunder (coached by John Sowerby) included Raushan Bindra, Savannah Dhaliwal, Arman Sahota, Pawan Mann, Inderjot Rai, Simrit Sindra, Arsh Gill, Zainab Khan, Celia Palmer, Simrat Dosanjh, Kuljit Johal and Nimrit Sidhu.
In the final, the 8th-seeded Surrey Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers dispatched the 2nd-seeded Abbotsford Panthers 67-57.
“Right now, it is just absolute excitement for my team and the parents, all the hard work over the last five years and now we have the school’s first provincial AAA championship,” said Tweedsmuir coach Curtis McCrae. “We had kids that were committed, kids who went into the gym, buying in to the system and program and the girls having the will and determination. It all came down to hard work.” Abbotsford led 9-0 early but Lord Tweedsmuir rallied to a 33-32 lead at the half. Tweedsmuir rallied from an 11-point deficit to a 53-44 lead capped by a pull-up trey on the run from tournament MVP Maryn Bundiman. “I have been coaching this team for five years and for whatever reason, we have always been notoriously slow starters,” McCrae told VarsityLetters.ca. “But with that has come the knowledge that there is never any lack of confidence if it happens. We go down 10, we go down 20, we still feel we’re in the game. We’re always a second-half team. We make adjustments. We figure out what is working and we attack it.” Bundiman said “everyone stepped up, and that was a team game we played to win. … This has been the dream since the start of high school. And tonight, it wasn’t about any one person. Each one of us wanted to win it for each other.” Breanne Homeniuk played stellar post defence on Abbotsford’s Kelsey Roufosse, while Shania Mander gabbed 13 boards. “Breanne Homeniuk, that is the best game I have ever seen her play in her entire life,” said McRae. “And Shania Mander and Sarah Rowe and Harneet Sidhu, again today, and Jess Vidovic and Brianne Boufford. Everyone. Maryn and Shelvin are going to do what they do and hit their shots, but our role players were massive tonight. We have role players because our stars are true stars. We might call them role players, but they’re really not. They are talented girls. … We had a solid game plan. We wanted to stay in our gaps and play disciplined basketball. Normally we play a trapping style, but this game plan was not to do that. Once we refocused our kids, we knew we would win the title. … We have a ton of top-end talent, but the difference tonight was that we rolled nine players. They rolled six. When you have eight or nine players who can go in and contribute, the other team runs out of gas. Our bench players gave us huge minutes.” Budiman was exceptional at the point, he added. “We give her a ton of freedom. obvious talent. We give her all the freedom in the world to be our floor general. But she’s still a 17-year-old kid. We do a lot of in-game coaching with her. It’s not so much about teaching her skill. She’s a phenomenal talent and one of the fastest players in the province. It’s more the finer detail, like, ‘Here’s the footwork you use in this scenario.’ … We’re the undisputed champ this year. We beat Oak Bay. We beat Panorama. We beat Abby. We beat the best. It’s not like we ducked anybody.” Abbotsford coach Prentice Lenz said “we had an exceptional run and an exciting provincial final, so they are disappointed because it means something. But they will get back to work as they always do and realize the world will keep turning and that they can keep working to get better.” Bundiman paced Tweedsmuir with 25. Shelvin Grewal added 16. Sienna Lenz, who was chosen defensive player of the tournament, scored 16 for Abbotsford, while nabbing 21 boards. Marin Lenz added 15 and Roufosse 14, along with 8 boards and 5 blocks. Chosen as players of the game were Maryn Budiman of Lord Tweedsmuir and Sienna Lenz of Abbotsford.
The bronze medalist Langley Brookswood Bobcats: Shanalisa Lacy; Louise Forsyth; Jenna Dick; Andrea Tsang; Kate Starorelli; Tavis Jasper; Janessa Knapp; Mana Katori; Aleena Bassan; Maria Jemna; Tasha Stenneth; Mackenzie Cox; Lyric Castodio; Brooklyn Golt; co-coach Chris Veale
The silver medalist Abbotsford Panthers: Marin Lenz; Tausani Levale; Sienna Lenz; Sydney Fetterly; Kelsey Roufosse; Gabrielle MacGregor; Sarah Johnson; Marissa Dick; Simi Alamwala; Lindsey Roufoose; Beryl Kithinji; coach Prentice Lenz
The gold medalist Surrey Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers: Maryn Budiman; Shelvin Grewal; Taylor Traaseth; Harneet Sidhu; Shania Mander; Alina Wutke; Maheema Sumra; Brianne Bouffard; Jessica Vidovic; Sedona Arabsky; Breanna Homeniuk; coach Curtis McRae; assistant Mike Mitro