In the opening round, held in Langley: …………………………………………………… The top-seeded North Vancouver Argyle Pipers whipped the 16th-seeded Fort St. John North Peace Grizzlies 88-19. The Pipers phenomenal depth was instrumental in the win, as 12 of their 15 dressed players off a roster of 20 hit the scoresheet. Pipers assistant Mike Kidd said Annie Baillie, who was chosen player of the game, “tore her ACL (before her Grade 11 year), and she had surgery a couple months ago. She hasn’t played at all this year, and she’s in Grade 12 and she’s the nicest person ever. She’s still committed – she still comes to all of our games. She’s missed basically two years of basketball, and we really wanted to try to get her in this game. The girls did a good job getting her an open shot (a three-pointer in the second quarter), and she nailed it. We kept her in, and she grabbed some rebounds, had some assists. It was really cool to see her get into the game, and then for everyone to be so happy for her.” Grizzlies coach Mark Knoppers said “even last night at the banquet, you see our players looking around starry-eyed, kind of like ‘Wow, we’re here’. It’s a big stage, and it’s a great experience for them to come here and work together to get better. … Argyle is a tough match-up. Holy moly, they just don’t miss.” Mariia Maydan paced the Pipers with 16. Sophie Ezart added 11, Taylor Johncox 10, Kelsie Hungle 9, Arianna Lunn 9, Hazel Pontin 8, Isabella Miljovic 8, Freya Hawksaw 5, Saidie Parks 4, Annie Baillie 3, Sophie Nicholson 3 and Sienna Baker 2, while Cassidy Negent, Eva Woodward and Maya Rothier were scoreless. Sophie Adams led the Grizzlies (coach Mark Knoppers) with 7. Charlotte Wilson added 4, Ava Christianson 3, Ella Knoppers 3 and Addison Tolsma 2, while Madden Mize, Sarah Dyck, Katy King, Monroe Mize, Elizabeth Bojezuk, Kylie Jones and Tashina Bernard were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Kelowna Okanagan Mission Huskies edged the 9th-seeded Victoria Oak Bay Breakers 53-51. The Huskies led 16-14 after one quarter. The Breakers led 28-21 at the half and 41-31 after three quarters. Huskie Maya-Lynn Ramsay notched a trio from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter as Mission rallied from a 12-point deficit. Ramsay told Varsity Letters that “I was definitely a bit more stressed in the first half. Just the start of provincials. In the second half, I just took a deep breath and tried to focus on other aspects of the game, not necessarily scoring. And then my shot started falling.” Huskies coach Meghan Faust said “it was definitely a struggle, the first three quarters. Shout-out to Oak Bay – their defence put good pressure on our girls. But in the fourth quarter our shots started to fall, and I think that our defence is what saved the day for us. Oak Bay was moving the ball really well, so we switched to man (from zone defence) and we were able to lock it down. The girls, I just kept telling them to keep their composure and play the game that we know. In those tight games, it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint. … She (Ramsay) is our shooter, and for her shot to be off is really weird. I can count on one hand the number of games where her shot hasn’t fallen. So I knew she was going to start making shots, and once she hit that first one, you could see her relax and kind of say, ‘OK, here we go.’” Maya-Lynn Ramsay led the Huskies with 13. Hana Friesen added 13, Mile David 10, Shae Sandhu 5, Makena Stantic 5, Myla Cross 3, Kali deVeer 2 and Jessie Umeris 2, while Shay Anderson, Kendall Carter, Cole Drescher and Riley Cunningham were scoreless. Adelle Bergman paced the Breakers (coach Paul German, coach Aaron Frampton) with 14. Zoe Lubben added 12, Ashlyn Mackie 11, Morgan Cunningham 6, Saray Pallan 5 and Peggy King 3, while Ella Beames, Sophia Mazzoni, Naomi Young, Jessica MacAskill, Elena Frampton, Maryam El-Dhakhakney, Taylor Mackie and Parisa Najjarian Esfahani were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Surrey Johnston Heights Eagles spanked the 13th-seeded Nanaimo Dover Bay Dolphins 76-56. The Dolphins led 20-16 after one quarter and 37-34 at the half. The Eagles led 58-48 after three quarters. Eagles coach Harjit Deol told Varsity Letters that “laying our first provincial game [in history], we were a little bit anxious. We knew they would settle in, though. We weren’t sweating – we knew our girls would step up. It was just a matter of letting them figure it out, right? Sometimes over-coaching doesn’t really help. At a certain point, if they didn’t figure it out, then we would have called timeout. But I didn’t think we needed that.” The Eagles ripped off a 14-2 run, bookended by treys from Fajir Hanjra and Nevaeh Kong, to take a slim lead at the half and then opened the second half with a 7-0 run. They led by as many as 25. Deol said that attacking screen-and-rolls more aggressively while providing more help in the paint, as critical. “We allowed 25 points (in the early going), and that’s not our team. We like to keep teams under 60 points – we start with a defence-first mindset. We just settled in. I wanted them to figure it out, because that’s the long-term goal. These girls have to realize, when you’re down eight or nine points, it’s not a big deal. It’s early in the game. Stick with the process, and make things happen.” Dolphins coach Shayne Pfeifer said “our fast break was working great. We pride ourselves on playing fast, and we’ve got some players who can run for days. But our perimeter defence broke down, and they closed that gap very quickly. That’s all it takes when you’ve got a team that’s hot from behind the arc. Things looked pretty good for a while there, but we know they’re a battle-tested team and they weren’t going to go away quietly. We were prepared for the run, but obviously not prepared enough.” Puneet Deol led the Eagles with 24. Fajir Hanjra added 19, Anahat Kaur 10, Nyemuch Jok 10, Chrisandre Marriot 6, Nevaeh Kong 5 and Gurnoor Sandhu 2, while Gurveer Deol, Anisha Khera, Gurman Sandhu, Harnaaz Kalirai, Nora Fazmin, Naajirah Sayyed, Neha Nijjer and Bunreet Dhaliwal were scoreless. Jessica Slater led the Dolphins (coach Shayne Pfeifer) with 27. Sophie Strandberg added 11, Beth Linder 11, Cocone Nakajima 4 and Reese Tougas 3, while Lindsay Kane, Maggie Hofman, Martyna Zakrzewska, Liliana Frank, Olivia Scarse and Faith Telfer were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Surrey Semiahmoo Thunderbirds dusted the 12th-seeded Abbotsford W.J. Mouat Hawks 89-51 after leading 30-8, 55-18 and 71-38 at the quarters. They broke the game open with a 20-2 run in the first quarter. Thunderbirds coach Simrat Bindra told Varsity Letters that “the experience we had last year was really key for us. Last year we played Oak Bay in the first round, and they were up 23-9 in the first quarter. Learning from that, we knew we needed to be really ready from the start, and knew we had to control the tempo. I’m proud of the girls for coming out the way that they did today.” Hawks coach Google Sidhu said “they were aggressive, and their full-court press threw us off. And Jaida Claypool, she’s a star. She’s a very good player.” Jaida Claypool paced the Thunderbirds with 33. Mya Thompson added 19, Priya Sangha 8, Savanna Wong 7, Elia Sparling 7, Kensi Claypool 5, Regan Arlitt 4, Katie MacKay 4 and Emery Boyes 2, while Shannon Li, Annya Arara, Callia Pomonis, Cora O’Ruaire, Avleen Bains and Anna Sull were scoreless. Seerat Mann paced the Hawks with 21. Nayeli Djulus added 12, Simran Randawa 7, Nevaya Neufeld 3, Ravleen Chahal 2, Nyah Sandhu 2, Amanat Aulakh 2 and Azraa Dhillon 2, while Jayman Johnal, Harveer Brar and Nevaeh Sandhu were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Port Coquitlam Riverside Rapids dusted the 15th-seeded Surrey Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers 104-48 after leading 27-18, 59-28 and 89-36 at the quarters. The Rapids full-court pressure befuddled the Panthers. The Rapids notched a 19-0 run to open the second half. “A lot of my teammates have learned to be ready for my passes,” Kaitlin Vergara told Varsity Letters. “At the start of the season, they weren’t always expecting me to pass it when I did. They were caught off guard. Now that we’ve built that chemistry, built that relationship, they know to be ready.” Rapids coach Paul Langford said his troops were nervous early. “I think we were maybe a little bit too hyped, too excited to play,” he said. “But we started the second half how I wanted us to play. When we share the ball we’re really good and if we play defence we’re pretty good.” Langford added that when Vergara “moves the ball she can be extremely effective. She was very effective today. When her teammates are running the floor, they know she’s going to get them the ball. And she can shoot it. … She’s very creative, one of the most creative players I’ve had.” Ari Brown led the Rapids with 25. Kaitlin Vergara added 17, Francesca Salonga 15, Henna Virk 14, Jazz Landry 7, Caitlin Moore 6, Cleo Beck 6, Naomie Doudin 5, Karyssa Labrador 3 Japji Aulakh 2 and Yui Katajima 2, while Miku Bartok, Caleigh Conley, Milo Cairns and Natalie McCutcheon were scoreless. Zara Mann led the Panthers with 18. Karys Suomi added 10, Zara Atwal 7, Hanita Ghuman 2, Tanisha Gill 2, Loshelle Gosset 2 and Zaara Syal 1, while Emerson Buell, Hanna Grewal, Mia Syal, Nina Sauder, Iyla Dosanjh, Sukham Mann and Dorcas Karyenyemba were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Chilliwack G.W. Graham Grizzlies defeated the 10th-seeded Kelowna Owls 60-54. The Grizzlies led 11-7 after one quarter. The Owls led 22-21 at the half. The Grizzlies led 47-35 after three quarters. The Grizzlies rallied from a deficit with an 18-0 run bridging in the final quarter by shifting to a zone. They iced the win with a trey from Janessa Wiebe with 34.1 seconds to play. “I was wide open . . . I had to try it,” Wiebe told Varsity Letters. “We were kind of nervous (earlier) with our whole school being here (in the stands). I had to do it.” Grizzlies coach Ashley Hayes inserted injured grade 12 forward Macie Svehia into the line-up in the final seconds to shoot a pair of free throws. “That was good for her, she could barely walk,” said Hayes. “We felt like our help side defence wasn’t great. We were a little bit slow and they (the Owls) were in our heads a little bit. We felt like if we were in zone, at least we’d have that confidence that our team would find itself. We talked about making one stop at a time.” They also focused on shutting down Owls forward Jasmin Guarasci. “We knew what she was going to do. We played them in our home tournament in January. We discussed her tendencies, what she liked to do to bait girls in. Sometimes (our team) listened, sometimes they didn’t, but we really paid attention to her and that helped to make sure she didn’t go off,” said Hayes. “This is a huge win. Resilience is one of our key words of the year and I think they were definitely resilient today.” Katie Schmitke paced the Grizzlies with 26. Emerson Bartel added 8, Holly-Rae Myrden 7, Alexa Paquin 6, Artigah Rezka 4 and Macie Svehia 2, while Amber Mercado, Janessa Weibe, Madison Fisette, Keira Bergen and Addison Van Dongen were scoreless. Layna Haggerty paced the Owls with 12. Haven Martin added 9, Jasmin Guarasci 9, Taya Foley 9, Karina Haggerty 8, Sarah Kershaw 4 and Madilyn Friesen 3, while Jorja Hugo, Chloe Ausenhus and Julia Sandberg were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Abbotsford Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles clubbed the 14th-seeded North Vancouver Handsworth Royals 91-53 after leading 25-11, 55-20 and 75-36 at the quarters. Rookie Eagles coach Sarah Neufeld told Varsity Letters that “I’ve been given a great opportunity. I’ve inherited a very talented group, a generational talent group, which is kind of rare. I’m very thankful for the work [former coach] Rick Thiessen and our staff at MEI has done over the last few years fostering this group. It’s been a joy to coach them.” Brooklyn Elford paced the Eagles with 14. Ella Tatlock added 13, Julianna Reimer 12, Jamey Martens 10, Aliya Bos 8, Shea Hall 8, Madie Corneau 8, Tanaya Bos 4, Kylia Schellenberg 3, Saraiya Sivig 2 and Aubrey Thiessen 2, while Lacy Friesen, Kaia LaMaitrie and Vivienne Bazan were scoreless. Mila Shannon paced the Royals with 16. Leila Aaker added 15, Tolu Adefowokan 11, Nieki Deihimi? 7, Roza Nikkan Bahrami 2 and Helia Moosakhani 2, while Annette Lucas, Connie Hong, Charlotte Chu, Aisha Sandhu, Avery Schmidt, Kailey Cheung and Adrina Farkhondi were scoreless. …………………………………………………… In the last opening round match, the 11th-seeded Coquitlam Charles Best Blue Devils stunned the 6th-seeded Delta Seaquam Seahawks 80-62 after leading 15-0 early and 19-9, 38-24 and 62-41 at the quarters. Blue Devils coach Jim Day told Varsity Letters that “our kids played unreal, that’s the best game they’ve played all year. I thought we were building towards that in the last few weeks and then we had a great week of practice and the kids just executed beautifully today.” Day added that grade 11 guard Bianka Mazan “played great today. She’s been our leading scorer all year and she showed that today. But today’s a day where it’s hard to single people out because the collective group was just so good. Everyone did their jobs, executed the game plan the way we wanted to.” Mazan said “it was a real team effort. We all worked together and it was a lot of fun. We said at the start of the year that we were not just going to get here, but we were going to win.” Seahawks coach Lucky Toor said “I felt they wanted it more than us today. Coach Day is a phenomenal coach. That’s a very well-coached team and he certainly had his team prepared. Kudos to them.” Bianka Mazan paced the Blue Devils with 29. Elizabeth Fast added 18, Ashreya Sanghera-Gulamhussein added 16, Natalia Piasentin 11, Mahal Barroso 4 and Madison Day 2, while Leila Pitts, Sydney McNaughton, Ava Askin, Arabella Lei, Malaya Barroso, Maya Villaroel and London Harrod were scoreless. Syra Toor led the Seahawks (coach Lucky Toor, assistant Jim Sidhu) with 23. Callie Brost added 20, Aaliyah Toor 10, Pauline Wanjura 4, Gurleen Bal 3 and Ashleen Sidhu 2, while Rishima Malik, Anjali Dass, Preet Gill, Pavan Rai, Camryn Tait, Diya Gill and Meera Johal were scoreless.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded North Vancouver Argyle Pipers nipped the 8th-seeded Kelowna Okanagan Mission Huskies 73-71 after leading 15-2 early and 20-16, 43-27 and 58-53 at the quarters. They bridged the first and second quarters with a 17-1 run, but Shae Sandhu kept drilling treys for the Huskies as they ripped off a 13-0 run and took a 66-63 lead in the final frame. But Cassidy Nugent nailed a trey and Sarah Danks pilfered the ball and hit a jumper as the Pipers regained the lead. Mila David answered the a pair of free throw to knot the score but Isabella Miljkovic notched a putback to give the Pipers the lead for good. The Pipers hit 8-23 from the line, while the Huskies were 8-18. Pipers coach Anthony Beyrouti told Varsity Letters that “it was a little iffy at times, but at the end of the day, we took care of business and got the job done. … At the end of the day, some veteran leadership at the end of the game really made a big difference.” Sandhu said “competing against a No. 1 team and coming so close, it’s a great feeling. Of course I’m a little bit sad, especially since I missed those two free throws (with three minutes left). I wish I’d hit those, because I know what we could have done in this game. We’re a very young team, mainly Grade 11’s, so it was just amazing how we could compete against a team that is so much more mature than us. … I was definitely in the flow. I felt confident in my three today. Yesterday (in the opening round vs. Oak Bay) it wasn’t falling as much, so today I made sure I was confident and wasn’t second-guessing when I shot. I just let it fly.” Sadie Danks paced the Pipers with 15. Sophie Nicholson added 14, Isabella Miljkovic 14, Cassidy Nugent 14, Eva Woodward 8, Kelsey Hungle 3, Taylor Johncox 2 an Sonia Gill 2, while Sophie Ezart, Juliette Henry, Max Biggar, Serena Guo, Maya Routhier and Arianna Lunn were scoreless. Shae Sandhu paced the Huskies with 35, including 8 treys. Mila David added 14, Maya-Lynn Ramsay 8, Kali deVeer 6, Jessie Umeris 4 and Hana Friesen 4, while Shay Anderson, Kendall Carter, Myla Cross, Cole Drescher, Makena Stantic and Riley Cunningham were scoreless.
The 5th-seeded Surrey Semiahmoo Thunderbirds dispatched the 4th-seeded Surrey Johnston Heights Eagles 72-55. The Eagles led 19-13 after one quarter and 28-27 at the half. The Thunderbirds led 51-48 after three quarters. Thunderbird Jaida Claypool and Eagle Puneet Deol staged a shooting duel before the former was forced out with a left calf cramp with three minutes to play and the latter fouled out with 4:39 on the clock. Claypool told Varsity Letters that “no one does it by themselves” but the shootout with Deol was fun. “She’s a great player, for sure, and she’s going to be a great player for years. It’s great to see. … I was just trying to set my teammates up for the best success possible tonight. We knew that driving in, we were going to draw a lot of defenders, and we could find the open player kicking it out. My teammates hitting shots opens it up for me on the inside, so all the credit goes to them. This is a great team win for us. We’ve just grown so much together, we have the trust, and we’re looking forward to taking this to the next level.” Eagles coach Harjit Deol said the duel was “exciting to watch – it’s great for girls basketball. She (Claypool) is a great player, and obviously Puneet likes competing, so I think it’s really good. Puneet leads our team, so losing her was tough. Some of the calls were a little on the borderline, but that’s how it goes sometimes.” Jaida Claypool paced the Thunderbirds with 36. Savanna Wong added 15, Mya Thompson 8, Priya Sangha 8 and Emery Boyes 5, while Shannon Li, Anaya Aroro, Kensi Claypool, Cora O’Ruaire, Regan Arlitt, Katie McKay, Elia Spaarling, Avleen Bains and Anna Sull were scoreless. Puneet Deol paced the Eagles (coach Harjit Deol) with 29. Nyemuch Jok added 9, Fajir Hanjra 7, Chrisandre Marriot 6, Nevaeh Kong 3 and Anahat Kaur 2, while Anisha Khera, Gurnoor Sandhu, Gurman Sandhu, Harnaaz Kalirai, Nora Fazmin, Naajirah Sayyed, Neha Nijjer, Bunreet Dhaliwal and Gurveer Deol were scoreless.
The 2nd-seeded Port Coquitlam Riverside Rapids whipped the 7th-seeded Chilliwack G.W. Graham Grizzlies 80-46 after leading 17-5 early and 17-12, 43-25 and 61-41 at the quarters. They closed out the affair with a 27-5 run. Rapids co-coach Jeremy Neufeld told Varsity Letters that “we just wanted to make sure that we set the tone and had a lot of energy coming out of the gate, because we watched a lot of games here yesterday, and there were upsets, too. And the teams that won were the teams that went after it. You know, at the start of the start of the game. So we wanted to kind of set the tone for ourselves.” Ari Brown led the Rapids with 22. Henna Virk added 16, player of the game Francesca Salonga 14, Kaitline Vergara 11, Cleo Beck 4, Naomie Daudin 4, Yui Katajima 2, Natalie McCutcheon 2 and Jazz Landry 1, while Japji Aulakh, Miku Bartok, Caitlin Moore, Caleigh Conley, Mila Cairns and Karyssa Labrador were scoreless. Katie Schmitke paced the Grizzlies (coach Ashley Hayes) with 13. Holly-Rae Myrden added 7, Artigah Rezka 7, Janessa Wiebe 7, Macie Svehia 6 and Emerson Bartel 6, while Amber Mercado, Alexa Paquin, Maddy Fisette, Keira Bergen and Addison Van Dongen were scoreless.
In the last quarterfinal, the 3rd-seeded Abbotsford Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles, the reigning girls 3A provincial champs, dispatched the 11th-seeded Coquitlam Charles Best Blue Devils 73-66 after leading 16-8, 31-17 and 50-39 at the quarters. Eagles coach Sarah Neufeld told Varsity Letters that “we knew they wouldn’t go away, and we saw that on every game tape we watched. We just had to hold and maintain our intensity. They bring so much intensity, and I didn’t want that to dictate our energy.” The Blue Devils were bedevilled by the length of the Eagles and by foul trouble. Though they trailed by as many as 17, they rallied within five down the stretch. Aliyah Bos buried the dagger for the Eagles by notching a trey with 30 seconds to play. Eagle Ella Tatlock said “coach keeps reminding us that basketball is a game of runs, and she compared it to a horse race today. They’re going to go at it, and then we’re going to go at it. It’s about trusting the training, and the faith we have in each other. “All 12 of us know what it’s like to be here and know what it takes to play on the final stage. As a group collectively, we all have that goal in mind, and we want to get there.” Neufeld said the team’s length “is special, and our two Grade 12’s, Julianna Reimer and Ella Tatlock, have the most. They’re special kids to coach, and they know their ability to block shots and rebound. And they really bought in tonight – I thought Ella was spectacular.” Ella Tatlock paced the Eagles with 20. Julianna Reimer added 14, Tanayah Bos 12, Kylia Schellenberg 9, Aliyah Bos 6, Maddie Comeau? 6, Aubrey Thiessen 4 and Shea Hall 2, while Journey Martens, Saraiya Sivig, Brooklyn Elford, Kaia LaMaitre and Viviennne Bazan were scoreless. Lacey Friesen was a scratch. Mahal Barroso led the Blue Devils (coach Jim Day) with 18. Elizabeth Fast added 16, Ashreya Sanghera-Gulamhussein 13, Bianka Mazan 12, Natalie Piasentin 4 and Malaya Barroso 3, while Leila Pitts, Sydney McNaughton, Ava Boskin, Arabella Lei, Madison Day, Maya Villarroel and London Harrod were scoreless.
In the semis, the top-seeded North Vancouver Argyle Pipers spanked the 5th-seeded Surrey Semiahmoo Thunderbirds 86-61 after leading 24-23, 47-37 and 69-49 at the quarters. Pipers coach Anthony Beyrouti told Varsity Letters that Thunderbird Jaida Claypool was a difficult cover. “I think Jaida is probably the best player in the province at her age. She really came to compete today, and so did their whole team. They’re very well-coached, they run really good stuff, and they came ready to take us out. But we stayed focused, we showed our composure, and we just started executing. We chipped away at it, and took care of business. … We went to a zone because they were carving us up pretty good. They’re really quick and they have a lot of good players, so we had to have some more coverage on the outside. We went to our zone to take away their threes, and it worked out pretty well.” Piper Isabella Miljkovic said she and fellow forward Sophie Nicholson have “kind of been a duo the whole year. I really like playing with Sophie – she’s always in the right spots, and she’s a great communicator. When I drive, she pops up, and if I miss, she’s going to get the rebound.” Isabella Miljkovic paced the Pipers with 19. Sophie Nicholson added 17, Mariia Maydan 12, Kelsey Hungle 10, Eva Woodward 10, Sadie Danks 9, Cassidy Nugent 5, Juliette Henry 3 and Ari Lunn 1, while Taylor Johncox, Sophie Ezart, Hazel Pontin, Sonia Gill, Max Biggar and Serena Guo and Arianna Lunn were scoreless. Jaida Claypool led the Thunderbirds with 24. Mya Thompson added 13, Priya Sangha 12, Savanna Wong 6 and Elia Sparling 6, while Shannon Li, Aanya Arora, Kensi Claypool, Callia Pomonis, Cora O’Ruaire, Regan Arlitt, Emery Boyes, Katie MacKay, Avleen Bains and Anna Sull were scoreless.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Port Coquitlam Riverside Rapids clipped the 3rd-seeded Abbotsford Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles 80-69. The Rapids led 40-27 at the half and 62-49 after three quarters. The Eagles rallied to within 70-67 with 2:20 to play but Ari Brown and Franceca Salonga each hit a pair of free throws to reassert command for the Rapids. Salonga notched a triple-double, scoring 18, dishing 10 assists and pilfering 10 balls. Rapids coach Paul Langford told Varsity Letters that Salonga has “made a lot people say ‘I’m not bringing the ball up when she’s guarding me,’. What can you say? She’s awesome. Her and I battle. I yell at her all the time. She’s just an awesome kid, and a competitor. I love her to death, but she probably doesn’t have the same feeling for me.” Salonga said “our coach always says, ‘Make the person behind you a hero’. Putting ball pressure on is always something I can do.” Eagles coach Sarah Neufeld said Salonga is “just a quiet assassin – I love her game. She could care less if she gets credit, she always makes the right pass, and clearly she did that tonight. On my scout, she’s the heartbeat of that team, and she proved that tonight. … I felt like we gave them opportunities in the first half that they didn’t deserve, just because we didn’t want to handle pressure – we wanted it out of our hands. More than that in the first half, though, was us just giving up right-hand drives and not being in help side. This is a hard team to guard, simply because they run good stuff and everybody can score. I just begged our players at halftime to commit to the 3-2 … and they did. It took us a little bit to get going into that (defence), but obviously it proved to slow Riverside down. It also gave us a chance to rebound, which we didn’t do a great job of in the first half.” Francesca Salonga paced the Rapids with 16. Henna Virk added 16, Kaitlin Vergara 11, Ari Brown 10, Jazz Landry 6, Cleo Beck 4 and Natalie McCutcheon 2, while Yui Katajima, Japji Aulakh, Miku Bartok, Karyssa Labrador, Caleigh Conley, Naomie Daudin and Mila Cairns were scoreless. Juliana Reimer paced the Eagles with 17. Tanayah Bos added 15, Ella Tatlock 15, Aliyah Bos 10, Kylia Schellenberg 5, Aubrey Thiessen 4 and Madie Corneau 3, while Journey Martens, Saraiya Sivia, Shea Hall, Brooklyn Elford, Lacey Friesen, Kaia LaMaitre and Vivienne Bazan were scoreless.
In the bronze medal match, the 3rd-seeded Abbotsford Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles dusted the 5th-seeded Surrey Semiahmoo Thunderbirds 84-55 after leading 23-13, 41-25 and 64-39 at the quarters. Juliana Reimer paced the Eagles with 31. Ella Tatlock added 14, Madie Corneau 10, Tanayah Bos 9, Kylia Schellenberg 7, Saraiya Silva 4, Aubrey Thiessen 4 and Shea Hall 3, while Journey Martens and Aliyah Bos were scoreless. Jaida Claypool paced the Thunderbirds (coach Simrat Bindra) with 21. Kensi Claypool added 12, Savanna Wang 11, Anaya Aroro 4, Emery Boyes 3, Maya Thompson 3 and Elia Sparling 2, while Shannon Li, Priya Sangha, Ekas Dhillion, Cora O’Ruaire, Regan Arlitt, Katie McKay, Aileen Bains were scoreless. The Thunderbirds also included Anna Sull and Callia Pomonis.
In the final, the top-seeded North Vancouver Argyle Pipers captured their first 4A tournament crown by clubbing the 2nd-seeded Port Coquitlam Riverside Rapids 72-41 after leading 20-19, 36-28 and 52-35 at the quarters. Pipers post Eva Woodward told Varsity Letters that “our coach tells us that nothing is ever promised. Pressure is a privilege and you know, we just have to embrace this moment and be grateful with where we are. … He just told us to have get gritty and play are hearts out, too.” Pipers coach Anthony Beyrouti said his troops were “locked in” after a narrow win in the quarterfinals. “They played a lot of selfless basketball the rest of the way.” Tournament MVP Isabella Miljkovic said “I’ve been waiting for this moment for four years, and it’s mind blowing. I can’t even cry right now, I’m so happy.” Mariia Maydan, who’d broken her foot a year earlier and didn’t see action again until the tournament, was chosen player of the game for the Pipers, who dominated the paint (outscoring the Rapids 54-8) with their size. Beyrouti said “until this week, she (Maydan) hadn’t played since July when she got hurt. She played in one of our playoff games to get into provincials, then before we played her tonight, she had played in the first game at provincials, sat out the second to prevent overuse (against OKM), and since then she’s been awesome. When we added her for the tournament we knew it would make a huge difference.” Maydan said “I’m just so blessed to be here,” she said. “Doctors told me I had a stress fracture and I just prayed I would be back one day, and thank God.” Pipers point guard Sadie Danks, who dished 8 assists, nabbed 7 boards, pilfered 5 balls and blocked 1 shot, said “I know my role and I am proud of what I do, and I know my teammates are proud of me.” The Pipers front line featured 6-5 Eva Woodward, 6-2 Sophie Nicholson, 6-0 Isabella Miljkovic and 6-0 Maydan. Rapids coach Paul Langford said “they’re big, they’re great. … And no excuses we had Grade 9s and 10s. They have been in the weight room. Our girls are going to realize that they have to get into the weight room, too. But we were troopers. They make an old railroader pretty happy.” Isabella Miljkovic paced the Pipers with 19. Mariia Maydan added 18, along with 9 boards, Eva Woodward 13, Sophie Nicholson 10, along with 9 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals, Arianna Lunn 3, Sonia Gill 2, Juliette Henry 2, Max Biggar 2, Hazel Pontin 2 and Serena Guo 1, while point guard Sadie Danks, Cassidy Nugent, Taylor John, Kelsey Hungle and Sophie Ezart were scoreless. Henna Virk paced the Rapids with 10. Ari Brown added 7, Rapids player of the game Jazz Landry 7, Kaitlin Vergara 5, defensive player of the tournament Francesca Salonga 4, Cleo Beck 4, Japji Aulakh 3 and Caleigh Conley 1, while Yui Katajima, Miku Bartel, Caitlin Moore, Karyssa Labrador, Naomie Daudin and Natalie McCutcheon were scoreless.
The all-tournament team featured MVP Isabella Miljkovic (Argyle); Jaida Claypool (Semiahmoo), Juliana Reimer (M.E.I.), Henna Virk (Riverside), Sadie Danks (Argyle) and Eva Woodward (Argyle).
The 2nd team featured: Elizabeth Fast (Charles Best), Shae Sandhu (Okanagan Mission), Ella Tatlock (M.E.I.), Kaitlin Vergara (Riverside) and Savanna Wong (Semiahmoo).
The bronze medalist Abbotsford Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles: Juliana Reimer; Ella Tatlock; Madie Corneau; Tanayah Bos; Kylia Schellenberg; Saraiya Silva; Aubrey Thiessen; Shea Hall; Journey Martens; Aliyah Bos; Brooklyn Elford; Lacey Friesen; Kaia LaMaitre; Vivienne Bazan; coach Sarah Neufeld
The silver medalist Port Coquitlam Riverside Rapids: Henna Virk; Ari Brown; Jazz Landry; Kaitlin Vergara; Francesco Salonga; Cleo Beck; Japji Aulakh; Caleigh Conley; Yui Katajima; Miku Bartel; Caitlin Moore; Karyssa Labrador; Naomie Daudin; Natalie McCutcheon; coach Jeremy Neufeld
The champion North Vancouver Argyle Pipers: Isabella Miljkovic; Mariia Maydan; Eva Woodward; Sophie Nicholson; Arianna Lunn; Sonia Gill; Juliette Henry; Max Biggar; Hazel Pontin; Serena Guo; Sadie Danks; Cassidy Nugent; Taylor Johncox; Kelsey Hungle; Sophie Ezart; Maya Routhier; coach Anthony Beyrouti; assistant Mike Kidd