In the opening round, held in Vernon: …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Castlegar Stanley Humphries Rockets defeated the 12th-seeded Victoria Reynolds Roadrunners 77-68. Erinn Coussins led Reynolds with 43. The Roadrunners had 33 turnovers. …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Vanderhoof Nechako Valley Viqueens dusted the 16th-seeded Vancouver Little Flower Academy Angels 103-41. The Angels included Aislinn Keegan, Carlie Paxton. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Prince George Duchess Park Condorettes edged the 14th-seeded Lumby Charles Bloom Timberwolves 52-48. The Timberwolves (coached by Glenn Stiven) included Melanie Price, Amber Werdal, Kyla Hughes, Jen Quesnel, Jill Headington. …………………………………………………… The Aldergrove Totems dusted the Vernon Clarence Fulton Maroons 70-44 as Donna Hayes scored 24. The Totems led 33-19 at the half and 55-36 at three quarters and then blew the game open with a 10-2 run to open the final frame. Rachel Merrick led the Maroons with 11. Meghan MacDougall added 10 and Jenni White 9. The Maroons (coached by Neil Wear), who played without injured Myra Cruz and Erin Shannon, also included Cindy Hystad. Wear told the Vernon Morning Star “we got in a little foul trouble early because we had to play so aggressively. If you play at that team soft, they’ll run all night long.” Hystad said “we’re at a disadvantage because of injuries and it really showed tonight.” …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Abbotsford Christian Knights dispatched the 8th-seeded Ladysmith 49ers 63-53. The 49ers (coached by Dave Mack) included Marlees McCrory, Laurie Shaw, Kenzie Clarke, Shannon Williams, Sarah Hamblin. …………………………………………………… The 11th-seeded Invermere David Thompson Lakers stunned the 6th-seeded Vancouver Lord Byng Grey Ghosts 58-52. The Grey Ghosts (coached by Jim Day) included Jennifer MacLeod, Kathryn Morgan. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Winfield George Elliot Coyotes dusted the 10th-seeded North Vancouver Windsor Dukes 68-49. The Dukes included Allison Jenkins, Christina Kipurchik. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Pitt Meadows Marauders dispatched the 13th-seeded Prince Rupert Rainmakers 80-66. The Rainmakers included Charlotte Yates.
In the quarterfinals, the Prince George Duchess Park Condorettes edged the Invermere David Thompson Lakers 46-43 as Maggie Vukovic scored 13, Rachel Johnson 10 and Linda Krafta 10. The Lakers included Kristen Wood.
The Vanderhoof Nechako Valley Viqueens clubbed the Abbotsford Christian Knights 79-60.
The Castlegar Stanley Humphries Rockettes dispatched the Pitt Meadows Marauders 65-62. The Marauders included Becky Popeniuk.
In the last quarterfinal, the Winfield George Elliot Coyotes edged the Aldergrove Totems 64-61. Donna Hayes paced the Totems with 20. The Totems (coached by Neil Brown) also included Darcel Arsene, Nicole Bufenacht, Kristin Persson, Michelle Oswald, Marci Doud, Christina Jones, Pam Tucker, Dallas Van Steinberg, Krystal LeBreton, Amanda Harcoff, Ali Mason, Andrea Schmidt, Jen Wearing and Andrea Wong.
In the semis, the top-seeded Vanderhoof Nechako Valley Viqueens defeated the Castlegar Stanley Humphries Rockettes 57-47.
In the other semi, the 3rd-seeded Prince George Duchess Park Condorettes smacked the Winfield George Elliot Coyotes 79-55.
In the bronze medal match, the Castlegar Stanley Humphries Rockets defeated the Winfield George Elliot Coyotes 52-49.
In the final, the top-seeded Vanderhoof Nechako Valley Viqueens defeated the 3rd-seeded Prince George Duchess Park Condorettes 59-41 to cap a (40-7) season. The Viqueens were led by 5-7 grade 11 forward Trina Hutchins, who scored 70 points, made 25 steals and had 18 assists during the tournament. Hutchins shot 21-42 from the floor in the draw, 5-12 (.410) from the arc and 13-20 (.650) from the line. Viqueens coach Doug Harshberger told the Omineca Express that “as far as I was concerned, it was the highlight of my coaching career and this was the best team I’ve ever coached … I have had teams that were more successful because they were better individually but they were the best bunch of team players and that’s why they were so successful … What really lent to the team aspect was that they didn’t have an identify crisis. They were just happy to be there and share their positions, so they could split the duties and rest every once in a while.” Harshberger told the Vernon Morning Star that “we called ourselves the killer bees. We came here think we could sting a few teams along the way and we did.” Condorettes co-coach Louise Holmes told the Prince George Citizen that “with the youth that we had and the leadership we got from our returning players, the kids improved leaps and bounds over the course of the year. For us to get back to that final was a major accomplishment for us. … The final was a good game but it was one of those games where we just couldn’t buy a bucket.” Viqueen Dianne Fawcett was chosen defensive player of the tournament. Holmes told the Prince George Free Press that “it was one of those games where we just couldn’t buy a bucket. We were getting the same looks we had the night before but the ball just wasn’t going in for us.”
The bronze medalist Castlegar Stanley Humphries Rockets: Selina Malakoff;
The silver medalist Prince George Duchess Park Condorettes: Rachel Johnson; Maggie Vucovic; Linda Krafta; coach Louise Holmes
The gold medalist Vanderhoof Nechako Valley Viqueens: Trina Hutchins; Mandy Hutchins; Dianne Fawcett; Anita Albertson; Vicki Lesli; Deni Moore; Leah Whidden; Brittany Smilinski; Stacy Peltz; Teija Gwilliam; Denise Burg; Elana Arnold; coach Doug Harshbarger