Knights edge Jugglers to earn semi-final berth

Holy Cross Crusaders’ Alyssia Palma comes up with the block during her team’s quarter-final win over the Britannia Bruins on Feb. 29 at the BC School Sports 2! Girls Basketball Provincial Championships. Ryan Molag photo

Four of the top five seeds are through to the final four at the BC School Sports 2A Girls Basketball Provincial Championships. It sets up semi-final showdowns between No. 1 Mulgrave and No. 5 St. Thomas More Collegiate while No. 2 Holy Cross will take on No. 3 Langley Christian.

#1 Mulgrave Titans 73 #8 Pacific Academy Breakers 50

The defending champion and top-seed Mulgrave Titans are through to the semi-final round as they held off the Pacific Academy Breakers 73-50. The Titans’ lead was done to seven very early in the fourth quarter before Mulgrave scored 14 straight to re-establish a double-digit lead.

Mulgrave’s Jenna Talib led her team with 24 points while Lucy Xu scored 15, all of which came from beyond the arc. Sarah Ude was the top scorer for Pacific Academy with 17.

#5 St. Thomas More Collegiate Knights 52 #4 Notre Dame Jugglers 49

A second-half surge helped the St. Thomas More Collegiate Knights upset the Notre Dame Jugglers 52-49. Down seven at the break, the Knights came out of the locker room with a dozen straight points and wound up leading by eight with a period to play. The Jugglers would battle to cut the deficit to three but ran out of time before they could get any closer.

And it was a pair of Grade 10s leading the way as Mia Beliveau scored 18 with Demicah Arnaldo adding 14. Kaitlyn Chan led Notre Dame with 13 points.

#2 Holy Cross Crusaders 57 #10 Britannia Bruins 40

The Holy Cross Crusaders allowed just five second-quarter points as they defeated the Britannia Bruins 57-40 with the Grade 10 duo of Isla Iannuzzi (15 points) and Solene Jackson (14) leading the way. Tessa Scarlett-Charleson had 23 points for the Bruins.

#3 Langley Christian Lightning 79 #11 St. Patrick Celtics 45

The Langley Christian Lightning shut the door defensively in the second half, holding the St. Patrick Saints to 15 points over the final 20 minutes in a 79-45 quarter-final. Colette Van der Hoven led the Lightning with 24 points while Grace Bradshaw had 17. The Celtics’ Chrisandra Laigo had 13 to lead her team.