JUNIOR GIRLS FINAL SET: #3 S.M.U.S. TO TAKE ON #1 DR. KNOX

The 2020 Junior Girls Basketball Provincial Invitational title will be heading either to the Interior or Vancouver Island, but regardless who wins, it will be a first-time champion.

The top-ranked Dr. Knox Falcons are set to face the No. 3 St. Michaels University School Blue Jags on Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. as the 32-team, four-day competition concludes at Langley Events Centre.

The Falcons defeated the No. 5 Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs 51-40 while the Blue Jags upset the No. 2 Kelowna Owls 44-35.

In the first semi-final, the Falcons held a slim one-point lead at the half, but they stretched their advantage to five at the three-quarter mark before opening the fourth with an 8-0 run to build an insurmountable lead.

Reegan Bond scored eight of her team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter and Amelie Guignard added 17. Churchill was led by 15 points from Claire Huang and a dozen from Stefanie Hart.

The second semi-final saw the Blue Jags flip-flop a two-point deficit at the half into a two-point lead after three. And after surrendering the opening bucket of the fourth quarter, SMUS scored 13 straight points to take the lead for good.

The Blue Jags’ Makena Anderson and Lauren Rust delivered matching 16-point efforts. Kelowna received eight points apiece from Phoebe Molgat and Mekhila Brown.