'Cats win OT thriller over Blue Jags

(story by Erick Dominguez) 

Forty minutes couldn’t decide a winner, so overtime was needed on Centre Court on Saturday.

 

Playing in the gold-medal game at Langley Events Centre in the 2024 BC School Sports 3A Girls Basketball Provincial Championships, Langley’s Brookswood Bobcats were 69-63 overtime winners over Victoria’s St. Michaels University School Blue Jags.

 

It is the seventh title in Bobcats program history, with the previous six coming at the 4A level.

 

After the Blue Jags jumped out to an 8-2 lead, Brookswood settled in and thanks to a 15-0 run, led 21-12 after 10 minutes. St. Michaels University School would dominate the second quarter, holding the explosive Bobcats offence to a single field goal while scoring 19 points themselves for the 35-23 lead at the break. 

 

Coming out of the locker room at halftime, the Bobcats and their coaching staff kept her group grounded and with a simple game plan as they looked to diminish the lead that they faced.

 

“We need to score. We need to get a stop. We need to score. We need to get a stop,” explained head coach Chrissy Nohr of the message to her young team, which is made predominantly of Grade 9 players.

 

As the second half unfolded, the Bobcats made quick work of the 12-point deficit, erasing it after an 11-2 run would cut the lead to a single point, and would be followed by a 3-pointer to give the Bobcats the lead. 

 

While time in regulation was ticking away, both teams continued to exchange shots, before Blue Jags’ Maddy Albert nailed a lead-taking basket to give her team a slim two-point lead.

 

With just 7.9 seconds remaining, Ashley Vande Ven sank a lay-up, extending the game beyond regulation for the first time in the 3A tournament’s history.

 

In overtime, the Bobcats showed the crowd at LEC that they were prepared and had a plan.

 

“We couldn’t let them like get the momentum in the start. We needed it to bring it up at the start,” said guard Jordyn Nohr, who came up with a pair of assists to start overtime – including a dazzling behind-the-back dish – for a lead the ‘Cats would not relinquish. 

 

Brookswood would outscore the Blue Jags 11-5 in the extra period, with the only points they conceded coming from the free throw line.

 

As the clock in overtime expired, the Brookswood Bobcats would claim their first 3A Provincial title in a 69-62 win, and for a group that has from the 9th to 12th grade, showed that age on the court is just a number.

 

“The grade twelves don’t think of us as grade nine, so if you don’t think of us as under Grade 12, we’re all equals,” said Jordyn Nohr, “we all just love playing together and going out there.”

 

Nohr would finish with 20 points to go along with nine rebounds and nine assists and was named the Most Valuable Player. Vande Ven led the team with 22 points (and was named both Championship Player of the Game and the Most Outstanding Defender) while Bryn Symens had 17 points. For the Blue Jags, Avery Geddes scored 22 while Charlie Anderson added 18.

 

Geddes, Anderson and Simons were all named First Team All-Stars and they were joined by Bella Graves (Reynolds) and Kiana Kaczur (South Kamloops).

 

The Second Team All-Stars were Alex Motherwell (St. Michaels University School), Saige Parfitt (Reynolds), Kylee Koppes (South Kamloops), Feron Wallace (South Kamloops) and Lola Reimer (M.E.I.).

 

The College Heights Cougars were named the Most Sportsmanlike Team.

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