In the opening round: …………………………………………………… The 3rd-seeded Salmon Arm Jewels defeated the 14th-seeded Terrace Caledonia Kermodes 92-20 as Lani Gibbons scored 36, while nabbing 5 boards, Sarah Knipe 20, Mandy Trenholm 18, Natasha Arthur 16 and Jenna Myers 2, while Janine Puetz and Karen Bridge were scoreless. Amandeep Dhaliwal and Sabrina Dosanjh led Caledonia with 6 apiece. Alison Smith added 4 and Sarah Crawley 4, while Jennifer Haynes, Jenny MacKay, Tanya Alton, Anna Schachner, Gillian Jones, Shelley Muir, Kristen Nestor, Matilda McKay, Kimberley Dusdal and Kristy MacDonald were scoreless. The Jewels played with just six players, with only one reserve on the bench, along with injured forward Karen Bridge. According to the squad, smaller is better — at least when it comes to making up a roster. “We have to stay out of foul trouble,” Jewels forward Natasha Arthur told the Vancouver Province. “We have to stay in a mental state, we have to be smart, because any faults we have will put us down. We get through because have support, people to back us up on defence.” Bridge is saddled with a leg injury. Arthur says she’s well enough to set picks, but not a whole lot else. “What do you think when you look over at the bench and don’t see anyone there? We don’t look at the bench,” said Arthur. “We keep our eyes on the floor. We do get a lot of playing time and that’s what we like.” Salmon Arm point guard Lani Gibbons added: “When I look over at the other team and see a bunch of players on their bench all I think is that I’m out there playing and they’re not and I’m the lucky one.” Jewels coach Brian Gibbons, who retired after the season told the Vancouver Sun that basketball was not the draw it once was in Salmon Arm. “We don’t have kids coming out for senior girls’ basketball any more. There just wasn’t an interest this year. For the last few years we’ve been getting kids from only one of our feeder schools — Jackson junior high –and none from Shuswap junior high. Having a roster of only six players obviously means you have to play very carefully, keep healthy and stay away from foul trouble as much as possible. We’ve never had a situation where we had less than five players on the court this season — and obviously that has to be the goal in this tournament.” …………………………………………………… The top-seeded Victoria Mount Douglas Rams defeated the 16th-seeded Fort St. John North Peace Ookapiks 80-27 as Cait Haggarty scored 26, nabbed 6 boards, dished 3 assists and pilfered 7 balls, Rachel Griffin 14 while dishing 9 assists, Tory McGroarty 13, Natalie Doma 13, along with 11 boards, Chrissie Carrigan 7, Courtney Gingras 3, Isabel Mengual 2 and Kali Ellis 2, while Kailee Ball and Katie Rushton were scoreless. 6-4 post Nicole Duperon led North Peace with 13. Jenna Rich added 7, Jael Rochon 4, Amber Shuya 2 and Michelle Hotte 1, while Megan Perry, Danielle Gardner, Kelli Strynadka and Jaylee Cochet were scoreless. The Rams opened with a 20-0 run and led 26-1 after one quarter and 48-10 at the half. They lulled as the game went on and coach Brett Westcott substituted liberally. “We’re not overconfident,” Griffin told the Vancouver Province. “Once you get into a tournament, rankings don’t matter. It’s teams just playing.” Haggarty told the Vancouver Sun that “I was nervous. There’s always some nerves involved in playing the first game of a provincial championship tournament and it was no different today. It’s so much different than any other game you play all season.” Westcott said “you worry a bit about size coming into a game like this. We gave up a slight height advantage over-all to North Peace. Smaller kids get tired as a game goes along but bigger kids don’t get shorter. Fortunately, we handled North Peace’s height quite well. My only complaint was that we played dozy for a while in the third quarter before picking our game up again in the fourth.” …………………………………………………… The 2nd-seeded Langley Brookswood Bobcats defeated the 15th-seeded Cranbrook Mount Baker Trojanettes 87-44 as Danica Boyce scored 21, Caitlyn Pankratz 17, along with 16 steals and 7 assists, Danielle Lawrie 12, Sasha McKinnon 8, Melissa Allingham 7, Sarah Cameron 6, Candace Morisset 4, Leanne McKnight 4, Tara Watts 3, Liesa Ohman 3 and Kendra Carrie 2, while Amy Biondi, Niki McKay and Lindsay Horsting were scoreless. Jessica Thielen led Mount Baker with 13, Courtney Coyle 8, Heather Johnson 8, Sandi Rennie 5, Janelle Hawke 4, Ciana Cameron 4, Brittany Burley 1 and Jenn Baron 1, while Tyra Becker, Traci Lawrence and Claire Nesbitt were scoreless. “Defence is my favourite part of the game for sure,” Pankratz told the Vancouver Province. “Do I like steals more than making a basket? Well, I really like to make a steal and then make the basket. We’re all really excited about being here and I think that’s what showed. We’re going to play in-your-face defence the whole time.” Brookswood is one of the youngest teams at the tournament, with 11 underclassmen on the 14-member team. They were jittery early. “We’re young, with a lot of Grade 10s and Grade 11s, but we’ve all played a lot of games,” said Boyce. “Our Grade 10s have probably played more games than some Grade 12s on other teams. The thing we’re not used to is the atmosphere here. There’s a bunch of kids here to watch us play and we weren’t used to it. Other teams are used to it. Salmon Arm has been here, Heritage Park has been here. We played OK today, but from now on we have to play better.” …………………………………………………… The 4th-seeded North Vancouver Handsworth Royals dumped the 13th-seeded Nanaimo Dover Bay Dolphins 77-51 as Erica McGuinness scored 35, Marissa Porter 16, Jessica Todd 9, Kelsey Hilliard 5, Morgan Tate 5, Kate Culbard 4, along with 9 boards, and Leigha Letford 3, while Krista Johnson, Emily Caulofield, Tara McNeill, Genny Hunter and Kate Marando were scoreless. Marnie Boers led Dover Bay (coached by Arlene Fitzgerald) with 19 on 5-7 from the arc. Maari Kirkbride added 13, Caitlin Anderson 8, Jessica Vogt 7 and Stephanie Chow 4, while Kaitlin Friend, Kari Watson, Olivia Hill, Lyndsay Boers and Lauren Whyte were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 5th-seeded Surrey Earl Marriott Mariners defeated the 12th-seeded Kelowna Owls 62-47 as player of the game Deanna MacRae scored 16 and grabbed 12 boards. Samantha Stewart added 10, Olivia Hunt 9, Emma Rowbotham 9, Jessie Lynch 8, Melanie Mathews 6, Melanie Trepanier 3 and Vanessa Wood 1, while Lul Ali, Lara White and Jolene Neufeld were scoreless. The Mariners led 15-7 after one quarter. But the Owls stormed back to take a 27-19 lead before Olivia Hunt scored seven unanswered points to draw the Mariners within 27-26 at the half. “That was a big scare,” Mariners forward Deanna Macrae told Surrey Now. “I didn’t know what to do to help us bring it up and I think nobody really knew what we were doing out there. We just tried to work on it. Olivia helped a lot and made some key plays right at the end and that really pumped us up.” Coach Bob Gair added that “it was their first experience at the BC’s, none of them have been here before. It’s not like there’s any one gal who can say, ‘OK, I can handle this,’ and share it with the rest of them.” The Mariners began effectively pounding the ball into the paint in the second half to utilize their superior size and led 43-34 after three quarters. “A win is a win and that’s all that matters,” Gair said. “It puts us into the top eight and now we’ll move on to the next round.” MacRae said “we still haven’t started playing how we really can. We were really nervous playing in our first game. If we lose, it totally takes us out of everything we’ve worked for. So the first game was the biggest game for us and now we have it behind us so we’ll calm down and play good from here.” The 66-year Gair told the Vancouver Province that “I never thought I’d be coaching at this age. I figured I’d be sitting back, watching other people go through the anxiety. I really had to be talked into coming back because the stress level, if you want to compete a high level, is huge. I like to compete at a high level and the kids know that. The kids have been great. They’ve worked really hard, even when they’ve had to deal with a grumpy old man.” Niece Deanna MacRae persuaded him to return to the coaching ranks after years at the helm of New Westminster. MacRae said “we want to win for ourselves but we also want to win for him. We know how hard he’s worked and how much work he’s put in. He should be out golfing or something, but he’s taken the time out to work with us. We want to show everybody what he’s done.” Debra Sandberg led Kelowna (coached by Lisa Nickle) with 12. Courtney Bedwell added 12 on 4-6 from the arc, Allison Pendray 9, Jillian Kirk 6, Jen Austin 5, Ashley Welder 2 and Lindsay Maier 1, while Terris Schneider, Brittany Heinrich, Shannon Kimmitt and Diraj Bal were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 6th-seeded Chilliwack Tillicums defeated the 11th-seeded Saanichton Stelly’s Stingers 68-57 as Jane Meadwell scored 31, Vanessa Forstbauer 10, Tiffany Boswell 7, Michele Wellsby 7, Laura Hallinan 4, Lisa Hofstede 2, Natasha Younker 2, while Terra Appleton, Jody Ferguson, Karla Dyck, Amy Hatt, Dessa Clempson, Alyssa Guakel, Danielle Christian and Patti Olsen were scoreless. Sarah Mckay led Stelly’s with 41. Lindsay DeLeeuw added 6, Megan Pomper 4, Mallory Cawthra 3, Kate Upton 2 and Ashley Chadwick 1, while Alison Cassidy, Lindsay Wright, Melissa Irish, Julia Norman, Lindsay Hansen and Shona Sedlock were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 7th-seeded Mission Heritage Park Highlanders defeated the 10th-seeded North Vancouver Carson Graham Eagles 68-54 as Lisa Sigurdson scored 25, Sarah Stroh 23, Ashley McLellan 8, Kelsey Bussiere 7, Jillian McRae 3 and Aleisha Kirk 2, while Beatriz Guevara, Katherine Reed, Erin Dowding and Sarah Reeves were scoreless. Megan Campbell led Carson with 17. Danica Adams added 15, Jessica Simmiss 14, Kate Mackay 6 and Erin Charleton 2, while Jaime Pimlott, Lauren Simmiss, Patricia Sekutowska, Chantel Joseph, Taravat Rahmati, Erica Oxenham, Becca Roskell and Christina Greenwood were scoreless. …………………………………………………… The 9th-seeded Clearbrook M.E.I. Eagles defeated the 8th-seeded New Westminster Hyacks 68-53 as Michelle Buhler and Danielle Foth each scored 10. Foth added 15 boards. Kelly Korad added 11 points, Julie Rempel 7, Delayne Peters 6, Brianna Doerksen 2 and Lisa Hiebert 2, while Raquel Foth, Kristine Schmidt, Alyssa Wiens, Katelin Dirksen, Kelsey Nickel and Jackie Dick were scoreless. Mollie Stelmack paced New Westminster with 30 points. Lindsay Hallman added 8, Shannon Elmer 7, Kelsey Bowman 4, Ruby Rattan 2 and Fiona Kayitesi 2, while Liz Smith, Kara Crowley, Norma Roberts and Amber Husband were scoreless.
In the quarterfinals, the top-seeded Victoria Mount Douglas Rams thrashed the 9th-seeded Clearbrook Mennonite Educational Institute Eagles 67-42 as Natalie Doma scored 24, Cait Haggarty notched 16, 7 boards and 5 assists. Chrissie Carrigan added 8 and 8 boards, Rachel Griffin 8, Tory McGroarty 6, Kali Ellis 3 and Katie Rushton 2, while Isabel Mengual, Kailee Ball and Courtney Gringas were scoreless. The Rams shot 30-73 (.411) from the line, 2-8 from the arc and 5-13 (.385) from the line, while garnering 40 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 10 fouls, 14 assists, 13 turnovers, 2 blocks and 11 steals. Doma was all but unstoppable in the paint. Still, Rams coach Brett Westcott told the Vancouver Sun that “Natalie picked up her game a little more today, but she’s still got to get better. She can get a lot better defensively and that’s going to be an important factor for us as we head into the final four stage of this tournament. She’s now going to be up against some good post players on other teams. “Natalie has developed a pretty nice shooting touch in the paint, but we’re trying to get her to slow down a bit when she gets possession of the ball. She tends to be a catch-and-shoot player, all in the same motion, and needs to take a little more time on her shots.” Doma concurred. “I have to square up a little more on my shots and not be in such a hurry. Shooting right off possession is a habit I developed in junior high and I have to learn to be a little more patient.” MEI coach Tim Smith said that “we wanted to score early in this game and make Mount Douglas a little nervous. But their outstanding defensive play didn’t allow us to do that. The other factor is that we have a much younger team. Eight of our girls come back next year.” Westcott told the Vancouver Province that his troops kept their focus. ““Now the head has to play with the body. It’s not like we’re going to go out tonight to the parking lot and say, ‘OK, let’s start a new offence.’ We have to be able to run our stuff. I think we can play a lot better. We’re going to have to play a lot better to win this thing.” MEI coach Tim Smith said his Eagles were outmatched. “I don’t know who is going to stop them. I think they’re even a little bit better working machine than Brookswood on offence. Their defence is comparable, but they’re just a little bit smoother on defence. And they’ve got a little bit more height.” Mount Douglas jumped out to a 30-9 lead against MEI and then coasted home for the win. They were crisp and precise running their offence early, but they did miss a lot of shots from in tight and they could have been up even more. “We’re going to need to play a lot better, but I think we’re capable of playing a lot better,” said Mount Douglas point guard Cait Haggarty. “It’s very good competition here and you can’t take any of these teams lightly.” Danielle Foth paced the Eagles with 9. Michelle Buhler added 8, Brianna Doerksen 7, Lisa Hiebert 5, Julie Rempel 5, Delayne Peters 5 and Kelly Konrad 3, while Raquel Foth, Kristine Schmidt, Alyssa Wiens, Katelin Dirksen, Kelsey Nickel and Jackie Dick were scoreless. The Eagles hit 16-53 (.302) from the floor, 4-16 from the arc and 6-9 from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 5 assists, 34 turnovers and 4 steals.
The 6th-seeded Chilliwack Tillicums stunned the 3rd-seeded Salmon Arm Jewels 61-51 as Jane Meadwell scored 22, Laura Hallinan 11, Vanessa Forstbauer 8, along with 10 boards, Natasha Younker 8, Tiffany Boswell 6, Amy Hatt 4 and Michele Wellsby 2, while Terra Appleton, Jody Ferguson, Karla Dyck, Lisa Hofstede, Dessa Clempson, Alyssa Guakel, Danielle Christian and Patti Olsen were scoreless. The Tillicums shot 22-55 (.400) from the floor, 3-12 from the arc, 14-21 from the line, while garnering 43 boards, including 15 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 12 assists, 18 turnovers and 4 steals. Natasha Arthur led Salmon Arm with 16 points. Lani Gibbons added 13, along with 11 assists and 8 boards. Sarah Knipe scored 9, Mandy Trenholm 9 and Jenna Myers 4, while Janine Puetz and Karen Bridge were scoreless. The Jewels shot 19-55 (.345) from the floor, 3-20 (.150) from the arc, 10-16 (.625) from the line, while garnering 33 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 14 assists, 14 turnovers and 4 steals. “We knew we could beat them,” Tillicums guard Natasha Younker told the Vancouver Sun. “It was just a matter of going out on the court and proving it.” The score was knotted at 30 midway through the third quarter when the Tillicums ripped off a decisive 13-2 run. Gibbons said “we were reluctant to get into any more foul trouble and that resulted in Chilliwack getting some easy baskets.” Younker said “we’re a better all-around team. We’ve got a very deep bench. We really play well as a team. Many of us have been playing together for quite some time. We’ve been waiting for this since Grade 7.” Tillicums coach Bill Ogmundson said “with Salmon Arm’s record of excellence and their reputation with the public, any time you beat them it’s an upset. I think it was our will to win that made the difference tonight, and that’s not taking anything away from Salmon Arm. With last year’s team we felt it was a big accomplishment just to make it this far because we were patched together because of injuries, forcing us to use a lot of younger players. This year we’re better prepared.” Jewels coach Brian Gibbons told the Salmon Arm Observor that “it was one of those games where everything that could go wrong tended to go wrong. We didn’t shoot very well and we’d didn’t play very well.”
The 2nd-seeded Langley Brookswood Bobcats dumped the 7th-seeded Mission Heritage Park Highlanders 57-45 as Sasha McKinnon scored 15, Caitlyn Pankratz 13 and 11 boards, Danielle Lawrie 10, Danica Boyce 9, Kendra Carrie 7 and Candace Morisset 3, while Tara Watts, Melissa Allingham, Leanne McKnight, Amy Biondi, Liesa Ohman, Niki McKay, Sarah Cameron and Lindsay Horsting were scoreless. The Bobcats shot 21-63 (.333) from the floor, 10-33 (.303) from the arc and 5-11 (.455) from the line, while garnering 49 boards, including 27 on the offensive glass, 16 fouls, 10 assists, 21 turnovers and 5 steals. Lisa Sigurdson led Heritage Park with 18 points and 9 boards. Sarah Stroh scored 14, Jillian McRae 7, Ashley McLellan 2, Aleisha Kirk 2 and Kelsey Bussiere 2, while Beatriz Guevara, Katherine Reed, Erin Dowding and Sarah Reeves were scoreless. The Highlanders shot 17-48 from the floor, 2-9 from the arc and 9-15 from the line while collecting 32 boards, including 13 on the offensive glass, 15 fouls, 9 assists, 23 turnovers, 1 block and 5 steals. The Bobcats outscored Heritage Park by a 21-4 count in the fourth quarter to come from way behind. “I think we showed just how determined we are,” said Brookswood centre Danica Boyce.
In the last quarterfinal, the 5th-seeded Surrey Earl Marriott Mariners defeated the 4th-seeded North Vancouver Handsworth Royals 61-53 as Olivia Hunt scored 17, Jessie Lynch 12 and 10 boards, Samantha Stewart 12, Deanna MacRae 11 and 12 boards, Vanessa Wood 3, Melanie Mathews 2, Emma Rowbotham 2 and Melanie Trepanier 2, while Lul Ali, Lara White and Jolene Neufeld were scoreless. The Mariners shot 21-61 from the floor, 5-22 from the arc and 14-25 from the line, while garnering 47 boards, including 17 on the offensive glass, 24 fouls, 14 assists, 15 turnovers, 1 block and 2 steals. Marissa Porter led Handsworth (coached by Shaun McGuinness) with 18. Erica McGuinness added 15, Kate Culbard 14 and 9 boards, Jessica Todd 4 and Morgan Tate 2, while Kelsey Hilliard, Krista Johnson, Emily Caulofield, Tara McNeill, Genny Hunter, Leigha Letford and Kate Marando were scoreless. The Royals shot 19-55 (.345) from the floor, 2-12 (.167) from the arc, 13-22 (.591) from the line, while garnering 41 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass, 21 fouls, 11 assists, 14 turnovers, 2 blocks and 3 steals. The Mariners, meanwhile, went on a 7-0 run late in the fourth quarter to turn a tight 50-49 game into a comfortable 57-49 lead. It was physical game and Earl Marriott did a fine job in holding Handsworth star guard Erica McGuinness to 15 points.
In the semis, 5th-seeded Surrey Earl Marriott Mariners thrashed the top-seeded Victoria Mount Douglas Rams 74-54 as 6-6 forward Deanna MacRae scored 16 and 14 boards, Olivia Hunt 17 and 14 boards, Jessie Lynch 12 and 12 boards, Emma Rowbotham 12 and 10 boards, Samantha Stewart 3, Melanie Mathews 2, and Lara White 2, while Lul Ali, Jolene Neufeld, Melanie Trepanier and Vanessa Wood were scoreless. The Mariners shot 32-68 (.471) from the floor, 2-9 (.222) from the arc, 8-15 (.533) from the line while garnering 20 fouls, 21 assists, 23 turnovers, 2 blocks, 4 steals and out-rebounding Mount Douglas by a phenomenal 66-34 margin. The Mariners nabbed 17 offensive boards. Natalie Doma led Mount Douglas with 16 points and 7 boards. Rachel Griffin scored 11, Katie Rushton 11, Cait Haggarty 7 and 8 boards, Chrissie Carrigan 4, Kali Ellis 3 and Tory McGroarty 2, while Isabel Mengual, Kailee Ball and Courtney Gingras were scoreless. The Rams shot 20-72 (.278) from the floor, 1-18 (.055) from the arc and 13-20 (.650) from the line, while garnering 19 fouls, 11 assists, 7 turnovers, 1 block and 6 steals. The Rams nabbed 8 offensive boards. “It’s a huge upset,” said a smiling MacRae, the niece of coach Bob Gair, who came out of retirement three years earlier after decades of coaching the New Westminster Hyacks. “We looked at this game like Mount Douglas had much more to lose and maybe would be a little more nervous than we were. But it’s still an amazing night for all of us.” The 66-year-old Gair said “the kids put a solid game together tonight. All credit to them for sticking to the job. We couldn’t get out of the Valleys the first two years I coach this team and now these kids are in the B.C. final. It’s a pretty quick and amazing improvement.” The Mariners opened with a 9-0 run and led 22-8, 38-23 and 57-41 at the quarters. “We went into the second half with the attitude that the score was still 0-0,” said MacRae. “There was no way that we were going to let that halftime lead go to our heads. We knew that there was always the possibility of a Mount Douglas comeback.” It was only the second Rams loss to a B.C. opponent on the season. “We got what we deserved,” Rams coach Brett Westcott told the Vancouver Sun. “I’m not sure what happened, but we just seemed to go out there and froze. We didn’t get any defence in the post and we had no discipline on offence. … How can you tell with high school-aged girls? Suddenly they revert to their old junior high school habits. We’d call a timeout and we’d talk about how we need to move the ball. But it was like talking to a bunch of chairs. We normally combat it [the height disadvantage] pretty well. But to do that we have to move the ball and shoot well. That just didn’t happen. But give credit to Earl Marriott. They deserved the victory.” Ram guard Chrissie Carrigan said “they just seemed to want it more than we did tonight. We didn’t come out hard at the start like we normally do. But we didn’t take them lightly. It wasn’t a matter of being over confidence on our part. We just didn’t seem to be into it. We didn’t play our game. Normally we come out and go after the ball with intensity.” Carrigan and post Natalie Doma were in early foul trouble, which allowed the Mariners to dominate the boards by a 66-34 count.
In the other semi, the 2nd-seeded Langley Brookswood Bobcats whipped the 6th-seeded Chilliwack Tillicums 87-48 as Danica Boyce scored 19 and grabbed 15 boards. Candace Morrisset scored 14, Kendra Carrie 12, Liesa Ohlman 8, Sasha McKinnon 8, Tara Watts 7, Caitlyn Pankratz 4, Sarah Cameron 3, Melissa Allingham 3, Leanne McKnight 3 and Danielle Lawrie 3, while Amy Biondi, Niki McKay and Lindsay Horsting were scoreless. The Bobcats shot 24-64 (.406) from the floor, 8-19 (.421) from the arc and 27-40 (.675) from the line, while garnering 56 boards, including 23 on the offensive glass, 25 fouls, 11 assists, 23 turnovers, 1 block and 6 steals. Laura Hallinan led Chilliwack with 22 points. Jane Meadwell added 11, Michele Wellsby 8, Natasha Younker 3, Tiffany Boswell 3 and Vanessa Forstbauer 2, while Terra Appleton, Jody Ferguson, Karla Dyck, Amy Hatt, Lisa Hofstede, Dessa Clempson, Alyssa Guakel, Danielle Christian and Patti Olsen were scoreless. The Tillicums grabbed 30 boards. The Bobcats defence harassed the Tillicums into a poor effort from the floor.
In the bronze medal match, the Victoria Mount Douglas Rams crushed the Chilliwack Tillicums 83-50. “It doesn’t make up for (the semi-final loss) but it felt good to finish on a winning note,” Rams coach Brett Westcott told the Vancouver Sun. “Tonight, they played like a burden was lifted off their shoulders. Maybe the long run of being number one and the expectations that went with it were just too much for them.” The Rams were aggressive from the start and grade 11 post Natalie Doma was totally dominant finishing with 35 points and 25 boards. Point guard Cait Haggarty completely dictated the tempo, while scoring 15. Jane Meadwell led the Tillicums with 23. Haggarty said the Rams played with more poise. “We didn’t let our nerves get to us like we did Friday. We knew we were a better team than we showed against Marriott.” Westcott said the semi-final loss would linger long with the coaches. “It’s still been a great year. We went 42-3 or something. Years from now, the players will just remember that they played in this tournament. It will be the coaches who will remember the loss.” Natalie Doma paced the Rams with 35 points and 25 boards on 16-28 from the floor. Cait Haggarty added 15 points, Chrissie Carrigan 10, Tory McGroarty 9, Katie Rushton 4, Rachel Griffin 4, Kailee Ball 2 and Courtney Gringas 2. The Rams shot 37-81 from the floor, 3-11 from the arc and 6-11 from the line, while garnering 64 boards, 16 fouls, 22 assists, 27 turnovers, 3 blocks and 11 steals. Jane Meadwell paced the Tillicums with 23 points on 7-20 from the floor, 31 from the arc and 5 steals. Laura Hallinan scored 12, Tiffany Boswell 6, Lisa Hofstede 3, Vanessa Forstbauer 2, Michele Wellsby 2 and Natasha Younker 2. The Tillicums shot 18-61 from the floor, 5-27 from the arc and 9-17 from the line, while garnering 29 boards, 12 fouls, 8 assists, 28 turnovers, 5 blocks and 8 steals.
In the final, the 5th-seeded Surrey Earl Marriott Mariners crushed the Langley Brookswood Bobcats 76-61 as point guard Olivia Hunt scored 26 points and grabbed 7 boards. Deanna MacRae added 14 points and 9 boards, Emma Rowbotham 11, Jessie Lunch 10 and 9 boards, Vanessa Wood 6, Melanie Mathews 3, Lara White 2, Melanie Trepanier 2 and defensive player of the tournament Samantha Stewart 2, while Lul Ali and Jolene Neufeld were scoreless. The Mariners shot 24-47 (.511) from the floor, 1-3 from the arc and 27-42 (.643) from the line, while garnering 46 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass, 22 fouls, 14 assists, 29 turnovers, 3 blocks and 6 steals. Caitlyn Pankratz led Brookswood with 22 points on 6-15 from the line and 14 boards. Danielle Lawrie added 15 points and 10 boards. Sasha McKinnon scored 9, Danica Boyce 8, Sarah Cameron 5, Tara Watts 1 and Candace Morisset 1, while Melissa Alligham, Leanne McKnight, Amy Biondi, Kendra Carrie, Liesa Ohman, Niki McKay and Lindsay Horsting were scoreless. The Bobcats shot 21-73 (.288) from the floor, 2-23 (.087) from the arc, 17-38 (.447) from the line, while garnering 46 boards, including 25 on the offensive glass, 31 fouls, 10 assists, 19 turnovers, 2 blocks and 16 steals. Tournament MVP 6-6 forward Deanna McRae told the Vancouver Sun that she was “in complete disbelief. I can’t believe what just happened. As a team, we just wanted to do our best and we ended up winning it all.” The Mariners avenged a 66-47 loss to Brookswood in the Fraser Valley final. McRae said her role changed as the tourney wore on. “I started out a shooting position then, for the last couple of games, I became more of a ballhandler.” Earl Marriott coach Bob Gair, McRae’s uncle, said “Deanna works very hard and she had a wonderful tournament. She elevated her game.” Gair wrapped up his 30-year coaching career with the New Westminster Hyacks seven years earlier, swearing he’d never coach again but was coaxed into taking over the helm of the Mariners by his niece, Deanna Macrae, when that squad was looking for a bench boss. Gair, 66, insisted that he was through with coaching, after sauntering off into the sunset with his fourth provincial title. “I hope I don’t have another niece — what a wonderful way to go out,” Gair, who guided New Westminster to the B.C. title 10 years ago, told the Vancouver Province. “The only thing I might do is work with my grandchildren one-on-one — that’s it. I’m at a loss for words right now. And that is rare for me.” Macrae added that her uncle “mean everything for this team. He put in so much effort for this team. We would be nothing without him.” The Mariners and Gair employed a triangle-and-two defence, a junk scheme used usually against a team with two predominant players. It may have been just coincidence, but Mount Douglas shot a paltry 27.8 per cent and Brookswood was only slightly better at .288. Brookswood was 3-24 in the first quarter, helping propel Earl Marriott to a 20-10 lead that it never looked back from. “He whipped us into shape when we needed it, he made us believe when we needed to,” Marriott forward Jessie Lynch said of Gair. “You can say that he was the driving force behind our team.” The Bobcats had beaten the Mariners 66-47 in the Fraser Valley final just a couple of weeks ago, but this time around Brookswood’s Grade 10 laden lineup seemed rattled by the pressure. “I never thought I’d be coaching at this age,” said Gair, 66, who has been around so long that he actually coached against national team coach Allison McNeill when she was playing in high school. “I figured I’d be sitting back, watching other people go through the anxiety. I really had to be talked into coming back because the stress level, if you want to compete a high level, is huge. I like to compete at a high level and the kids know that. The kids have been great. They’ve worked really hard, even when they’ve had to deal with a grumpy old man.” Gair told the Vancouver Sun that “I can make my retirement from coaching official now. The only coaching I might do now is one-on-one with my grandchildren. That will be the extent of my involvement in basketball in the future. After what happened in this tournament, I can’t think of a better way to go out.” Hunt noted that “we played Brookswood several times this season and lost every game by a whole bunch. Why was it different tonight? Partly because we had the surprise factor going for us. Nobody expected us to win the championship game, let alone reach it, and therefore we felt no pressure.” Pankratz said “we got fouled a lot and needed to hit those free throws to stay in the game. Our team needed me to come up big and I didn’t.” Coach Neil Brown said “we got Marriott in foul trouble, but couldn’t take advantage of it from the line. Additionally, our guards wouldn’t pass the ball into the paint and our post players wouldn’t post up. It was just a case of poor execution throughout the game.” Bobcats coach Neil Brown told the Langley Advance that “we shot the ball well against them, every time, but this time around, they came up with a game plan of ‘we aren’t going to beat you, you are going to beat yourselves’. That strategy worked well for them.” Mariner Deanna Macrae said “we had lost to Brookswood all season by lots of points, so we came here tonight and said: ‘we’re here, so let’s have fun’. We knew if we just played our game, we’d come close. We didn’t expect to win – we came here to play good, and we won.”
The bronze medalist Victoria Mount Douglas Rams: Natalie Doma; Cait Haggarty; Rachel Griffin; Katie Rushton; Chrissie Carrigan; Tory McGroarty; Courtney Gringas; Isabel Mengual; Kailee Ball; Kali Ellis; coach Brett Westcott
The silver medalist Langley Brookswood Bobcats: Caitlyn Pankratz; Danielle Lawrie; Sasha McKinnon; Danica Boyce; Sarah Cameron; Tara Watts; Candace Morisset; Melissa Allingham; Leanne McKnight; Amy Biondi; Kendra Carrie; Liesa Ohman; Niki McKay; Lindsay Horsting; coach Neil Brown
The gold medalist Surrey Earl Marriott Mariners: Jessie Lynch; Emma Rowbotham; Oliva Hunt; Deanna MacRae; Samantha Stewart; Melanie Mathews; Lul Ali; Lara White; Jolene Neufeld; Melanie Trepanier; Vanessa Wood; coach Bob Gair; assistant Georgina Hunt