In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The 11th-seeded Port Moody Blues stunned the 6th-seeded Cowichan Thunderettes 54-45 as Amanda Beers, a Grade 12 forward, counted 21 points and 10 rebounds and her Grade 9 sibling Emily supplied 10 points and 12 boards. “We expected to win,” Amanda Beers told the Vancouver Province. “We had underachieved all year but now we’re coming together. Our team is really well-rounded and we knew that we’d all have to step it up here.” The Blues were leading 43-42 with 2:26 to go when point guard Kelly Devlin fouled out. But, just a few seconds after that, Amanda drained a trey to up the margin to six. Cowichan rallied within one with just under two minutes remaining, but Emily stole momentum, draining a jumper with 1:15 left, giving Port Moody a 48-45 cushion. Cowichan didn’t score again. “We knew that those two girls were good shooters,” said Thunderettes coach Tim Cox. “We tried to cool them off but they hit some crucial shots at big times.” Amanda Beers added that “It’s just the start of the upsets, for the tournament and for us.” Letah Beck, a 6-1 post, led the Thunderettes with 17 on 7-7 from the floor, 3-4 from the line, 18 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks. The Thunderettes included Lindsay Cox, Rachelle Ferguson, R Dewhurst, Kristen Knight, Letah Beck, Maggie Cavallin. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded New Westminster Hyacks defeated the 7th-seeded Kelowna Owls 70-57. The Owls had 14 of their first 16 points come from post Zora Zkrabalova, but they trailed 22-16 after one quarter. The Hyacks did a better job of keeping the Czech exchange student in check after that and Kelowna had trouble with New Westminster’s full-court press. “They had a great press and we knew that they were going to press us as much as they could, and we knew that they had some great shooters,” said Owls co-coach, noting that the Hyacks hit 12 treys. “We just went out there and did what we could.” …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Clearbrook Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles held the 16th-seeded Trail J.L. Crowe Hawks to a .283 field goal percentage en route to an 85-42 triumph. Dana Friesen paced the Eagles with 21, while dishing 14 assists. Katie Hall added 20, along with 13 boards, Cassie Born 15 and Jodi Skeels 10, along with 14 boards. The Hawks included Melissa Manning, Jennifer Erickson. …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Victoria Lambrick Park Lions dispatched the 14th-seeded Prince George Duchess Park Condors 70-39. Erika Johnson led the Condorettes with 10. “We were down 33-21 at the half and the wheels sort of just fell off in the fourth quarter,” Condorettes co-coach Louise Holmes told the Prince George Citizen. The Condorettes also included Morgan Stoner, Laura Foster. …………………………………………………… The 8th-seeded Vancouver Kitsilano Blue Demons held the 9th-seeded Victoria Mount Douglas Rams to just six points in the second quarter en route to a 63-41 win. Marie-Jolie Rwigema paced the Blue Demons with 22. Lia Grainger added 17, along with 32 boards. Alex Sia added 14 points and 14 boards. The Hyacks hit 12-31 from the arc. The Rams included Jennifer Deanna, Brooke Marson. …………………………………………………… The 10th-seeded New Westminster Hyacks upset the 7th-seeeded Kelowna Owls 70-57. Czech exchange student and 6-4 Owls center Zora Skrabalova was disappointed by the loss. “This is a big deal. I know. The crazy people in the crowd, everyone yelling and cheering.” Her hard-nosed play resulted in 27 points and 20 boards. “The way the other girls feel is the same way that I feel,” she said. “I read in the paper that (last year’s champion) Salmon Arm not being here is like Christmas without presents. I know this is big.” …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Mission Heritage Park Highlanders torched the 15th-seeded North Vancouver Argyle Pipers 78-34 as Dani Langford scored 19. Michelle Longpre and Jacqui Ferraby each scored 8 to pace the Pipers, who also included Thea Green. ………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded Richmond Charles E. London Legends dispatched the 13th-seeded Pitt Meadows Marauders 61-56. The Marauders included Sheila Townsend. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Richmond Hugh McRoberts Strikers defeated the 12th-seeded Maple Ridge Ramblers 65-60. The Ramblers included Ciana Gregorio, Melissa Gregorio.
In the quarterfinals, the 2nd-seeded Mission Heritage Park Highlanders coasted to an easy 58-43 win over the 10th-seeded New Westminster Hyacks. The Highlanders exploded to a 34-13 lead and coasted to the win. “Some people doubted us, saying that this was going to be the upset of the day,” Highlanders point guard Dani Langford told the Vancouver Sun. “We didn’t care. We believe in ourselves and that’s all that matters.” The Hyacks hit just 3-19 from the arc and couldn’t handle the Highlanders’ depth. Heritage Park had five players score at least 8 points and six grab at least 5 rebounds. “We’re feeling good as a team,” said Highlander forward Michelle Smith. Highlanders coach Bruce Langford told the Vancouver Province that “I think any team that plays as well as we did on offence in the first half is bound to tire in the second. All but one of our players scored in the first half.” Michelle Smith paced the Highlanders with 17. Dani Langford added 11. Karlene Liem and Lauren Liem each scored 10 to pace the Hyacks. The Hyacks (coached by Winfred Liem) also included Rochelle Liem, Stephanie Huber, April Dobie, Lisa Roberts, Carly Burrus.
The 3rd-seeded Victoria Lambrick Park Lions held off a late charge from the 11th-seeded Port Moody Blues and prevailed 57-50. There were eight lead changes in the first quarter by Lion guard Laura Olson knocked down back-to-back treys to give Lambrick Park a 25-18 lead at the half. The Blues responded with a 12-2 run to knot the score at 30 before the Lions took command. Olson led the Lions with 20. Melissa Edwards added 15. Amanda Beers led the Blues with 15. “They are quarter-finalists and very well coached,” by ex-national team player Alex Devlin, Lions coach Rocky Vitale told the Vancouver Province. “I expected a good game and they certainly gave us that. Any team that gets to the quarter-finals is doing something right in a tournament of this quality. I just told my girls to try to play relaxed and their game. I said it doesn’t matter whether we win by one point or 40.” Lions guard Lauren Olson told the Vancouver Sun that “there’s a feeling about our team now. “It’s hard to explain. We just feel good about how things are going for us.” The Blues (coached by Devlin) included Kelly Devlin, Candace Woodman, K Lodge, Amanda Beers, Emily Beers.
The 4th-seeded Richmond Charles E. London Legends defeated the 5th-seeded Richmond Hugh McRoberts Strikers 67-53 as Jessie Evans scored 23. The Legends led 33-27 at the half. The Strikers (coached by Trish Nicholson) included Melissa Bryan, Alisa Carey, Carly Scarr, Samantha Coutts, Leigh Tipper.
In the last quarterfinal, the top-seeded Clearbrook MEI Eagles defeated the 8th-seeded Vancouver Kitsilano Blue Demons 67-49. The Blue Demons (coached by Paul Chierenza) included Lia Granger, Marie-Jolie Rwigema, Alex Sia, Christy Clark.
In the semis, the Mission Heritage Park Highlanders defeated the 3rd-seeded Victoria Lambrick Park Lions 55-52 as Dani Langford scored 22, including 5 treys, and made a critical steal from Price forward Melissa Edwards down the stretch to ice the win. The game featured 15 lead changes. “This is as tough a game as we’ve had all year,” Langford told the Vancouver Sun. “But we kept our composure throughout and never got rattled. I really think that was the key for us. It was a game that was pretty testing on the nerves.” Sisters Kim and Michelle Smith added 16, and 10, respectively for the Highlanders. Lauren Olson led Lambrick Park with 12. Pride guard Lauren Olson, who scored 12, missed a pair of critical free throws down the stretch, both times at the front-end of a one-and-one, and both times with the Highlanders leading by two. Both fell short for the squad’s best free throw shooter. “We play that game 10 times and we’re going to win it five times. It’s really that close. You could just flip a coin. They’re a great team and so are we, but someone had to lose.”
In the other semi, the top-seeded Clearbrook MEI Eagles defeated the 4th-seeded Richmond Charles E London Legends 63-46.
In the bronze medal match, the 3rd-seeded Victoria Lambrick Park Lions defeated the 4th-seeded Richmond Charles E. London Legends 72-57 as Melissa Edwards scored 21 and nabbed 11 boards. Pride guard Lauren Olson was all over the floor. “I didn’t sleep much at all last night (thinking about two critical missed foul shots in the semis,” said Olson. “I just kept playing the game over and over in my head. I don’t know what happened. In my head, when I was shooting the foul shots, I knew that they were going in. I kept telling myself these were going in. I wasn’t nervous on the line. I was relaxed. They just didn’t go in. Sometimes that happens.” London got to within two points at the start of the fourth quarter, when Lauren McLean tallied on a put-back to make it 47-45 with 9:32 to go. Lambrick Park promptly went on a 12-0 run to put things away. Olson scored 17. Jessie Evans led London with 19. The Legends also included Stephanie Bennett, Kelly Nakhleh, L MacLean. The Lions finished 43-3 on the campaign.
In the final, the top-seeded Clearbrook MEI Eagles defeated the 2nd-seeded Mission Heritage Park Highlanders 86-74. The Eagles took command in the third quarter when the Highlanders got in foul trouble, allowing MEI’s fastbreak and aggressive defence to turn the tide. “I thought the final score was going to be closer than it was,” tournament MVP Katie Hall, who scored 30 on 10-11 from the line and 9 boards. told the Vancouver Sun. “Heritage was our best competition all season and they kept it very close most of the game. But their late foul trouble opened the door for us to run our offence and we were strong defensively. I think those were the two main factors in the game.” Coach Tim Smith added that “our defence stepped up huge and we scored 86 points against a very good team. We hit the shots we had to and kept attacking them. We wanted to attack because we knew we had some great quickness and some great players inside. But Heritage is never an easy team to beat.” Defensive player of the tournament Dana Friesen, who scored 13, added that “as a team, this was the best game we played in the tournament. Everybody stepped up, especially on defence in the second half. Our familiarity with Heritage Park helped a lot. We didn’t give them anything easy and, for the most part, they didn’t give us anything easy either. We knew what they were going to do.” Jocelyne Reimer added 12 for the Eagles, Cassi Born 9, Janelle Enns 8, Jodi Skeels 8 and Dawn Gosselin 6. Hall told the Abbotsford News that “I’ve never felt anything like this. They’ve beaten us twice (during the season), so I was pretty nervous going into this game. They’re a good team and they’ve always got tricks up their sleeves. If they had come out hot and we didn’t, it could have gone either way. But we came out pretty good.” Friesen said “they make us play better. That was our best game and what a time to have it. They’re a great team and they gave us wonderful competition. Half of them are our best friends.” MEI coach Tim Smith credited Friesen with shuuting down Dani Langford in the second half. “Dana shut her down and we played our game in the second half – tough defence, and attacked the basket and put them on their heels. … It was a lot of pressure. But we believed in each other and we believed in our team.” Highlanders point guard Dani Langford said “I had to step up, shoot the ball well and be a leader for our team. But MEI is just so strong defensively. We ran into foul trouble late and lost two of our best players. I think that opened the door for MEI. They limited our production late in the game and countered with a very effective fast break.” Still, Langford, who scored 28, told the Province that it wasn’t a hard loss to take. “They’re all sweethearts. If we had to lose to somebody, I’m glad that it was them.” MEI and Heritage Park are located just 15 minutes apart in the Fraser Valley. They are the only two teams in the province to have had two players on the B.C. under-17 team last summer. And, via league and being in many of the same tournaments, they met seven times this season. MEI won five of those duels, including the final. The teams were knotted at 41-41 at halftime Saturday, but the Eagles went on a 13-5 run to start the second half to take a 54-46 lead and snatch the game’s momentum. The Highlanders got within 78-72, when Grade 9 standout Julia Wilson tallied with 1:40 to go, but could come no closer. “We played them seven times and they made us stronger every time,” Friesen said. “They’re awesome opponents.” Heritage Park coach Bruce Langford said that “in all honesty, the better team won. They’re bigger, strong, more athletic and older. With all those things combined … I still think we played well.” Julia Wilson scored 16 for Heritage Park, while dishing 16 assists. Michelle Smith added 11, Kelsey Smith 9, Shiloh Minor 6 and Lyndsay Bale 4. The Eagles finished 30-2 on the campaign. Langford told the Abbotsford News that “the best team won. They’ve got better heigh, their depth, and they are grade 12s – that makes a difference.”
The bronze medalist Victoria Lambrick Park Lions: Melissa Edwards; Lauren Olson; Elise Roberts; Tasha Chewpoy; coach Rocky Vitale
The silver medalist Mission Heritage Park Highlanders: Dani Langford; Michelle Smith; Julia Wilson; Kim Smith; Kelsey Smith; Shiloh Minor; Lynsay Bale; coach Bruce Langford;
The gold medalist Clearbrook Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles: Katie Hall; Cassi Born; Dana Friesen; Jodi Skeels; Jocelyn Reimer; Janelle Enns; Dawn Gosselin; Nadine Reimer; Andrea Brhelle; coach Tim Smith