Matchups set for basketball provincial championships

The matchups are set for the final day of the 2022 BC School Sports Girls Basketball Provincial Championships at Langley Events Centre.

One tier will be a matchup of No. 1 vs. No. 2, another is the third seed vs. the fourth seed after a pair of semi-final upsets, and the third is a battle for not only a provincial title, but also a matchup of two schools located less than five kilometres apart; those are the games set to determine the three provincial champions on Saturday.

The top-seed Langley Christian Lightning face the No. 2 Mulgrave Titans (West Vancouver) in the 2A Tournament final at 3:00pm with the 3A Tournament title game featuring the No. 3 M.E.I. Eagles (Abbotsford) against Richmond’s R.A. McMath Wildcats, the No. 4 seed. That game gets going at 5:15pm. And the 4A Tournament final tips off at 7:30pm between Port Coquitlam’s Riverside Rapids and the Terry Fox Ravens. The Rapids are the No. 1 seed and the Ravens are the third seed.

All three games will be played on Centre Court at Langley Events Centre.

For full tournament results, daily scores and statistics, visit www.bchighschoolbasketballchampionships.com.

All fans 12 years and older must also show proof of double vaccination and all spectators ages five and up are required to wear a mask when inside the facility. The games are also available to stream via pay-per-view at tfsetv.ca.

Mulgrave Titans 68 York House Tigers 55

Tied through three quarters in a rematch of the Vancouver Sea-to-Sky zone championship game, it was the Mulgrave Titans against besting their rivals from York House. The Titans outscored the Tigers 25-15 in the fourth quarter for the 68-55 victory, securing the West Vancouver school a first shot at a 2A provincial title.

Mulgrave was led by a monster double-double from Eva Ruse, as she scored 23 points and pulled down an incredible 27 rebounds, including 14 off the offensive glass. York House received matching 16-point games from Jordan Wyder and Avery Ratcliffe.

The Titans won by 13 points and a major factor in their victory was points in the paint – 40-26 for Mulgrave – and the fact they connected on seven of 24 three-point attempts compared to York House’s 2-for-12 performance from beyond the arc.

Langley Christian Lightning 56 S.M.U.S Blue Jags 55

It came down to the final seconds and when the buzzer had sounded, it was the top-ranked Langley Christian Lightning holding off Victoria’s St. Michaels University School Blue Jags 56-55.

Neither team led by more than five points and both those advantages came in the first half.

The Blue Jags had pulled ahead after splitting a pair of free throws, but with a dozen seconds to play, the Lightning’s Sydney Bradshaw scored on a drive to the hoop, banking home what turned out to be the winning points. Bradshaw led the team with 19 points while Laine Shelvey and Taelor Coxford each scored 14. Makena Anderson led the Blue Jags with 22 points and 13 rebounds while also adding four steals.

The 3A Tournament featured a pair of upsets as both the top-ranked Burnaby Central Wildcats and No. 2 seeded Brookswood Bobcats (Langley) found themselves on the losing end of their games to the No. 4 R.A. McMath Wildcats (Richmond) and No. 3 M.E.I. Eagles (Abbotsford).

R.A. McMath Wildcats 80 Burnaby Central Wildcats 64

McMath nearly led wire-to-wire – they trailed for just 56 seconds and the game was tied for a mere 41 seconds – as they upset No. 1 ranked Burnaby Central 80-64 in a battle of the Wildcats. McMath came out blazing, connecting on 50 per cent of their field goals, including three-of-four three-pointers. A big difference in the game was shooting percentage as McMath sunk nearly 42 per cent of their attempts while Burnaby Central was good on just 27.5 per cent.

Marina Radocaj led McMath with 22 points and 10 rebounds and Kee Hohlweg scored 15 and pulled down 18 rebounds, 12 of which came on the offensive glass. Emma Bradley-Tse also scored 15 while Teagan Ng chipped in 13. Ankita Chopra led Burnaby Central with 25 points and Jade Huynh had 16. They pair also combined for nine steals, with four and five, respectively.

M.E.I. Eagles 53 Brookswood Bobcats 52

After Bree Neufeld hit a short jumper to put M.E.I. ahead 53-53, Sidney Giesbrecht came up with a pair of steals to thwart Brookswood from even attempting a shot to win the game in an all-Eastern Valley matchup to determine which team would advance to the title game.

The game was close for much of the contest as neither team could build a lead bigger than five points. Tied at the half, Brookwood gained the upper hand in the third quarter taking a five-point lead with 10 minutes to play, but the Eagles outscored Brookswood 17-11 in the fourth quarter.

Jazmin Avila led M.E.I. with 15 points and 15 rebounds while Marijke Neindertsma fell a rebound short of matching her teammate, finishing with 15 points and 14 rebounds. And rebounds were a difference in the game with the Eagles grabbing 23 offensive rebounds (and 44 total) to the Bobcats’ 19 defensive rebounds and 26 total boards. Cassidy Buchanan led the ‘Cats with 18 points.

The 4A Tournament final will be yet another clash between a pair of teams quite familiar with one another in the battle of Port Coquitlam between the No. 1 Riverside Rapids and the No. 3 Terry Fox Ravens.

Riverside Rapids 76 Walnut Grove Gators 60

After the Walnut Grove Gators took a five-point lead in the first quarter, the top-ranked Riverside Rapids

outscored their opponent by 16, taking a 36-25 lead into the half. And from there, the Gators could not make a dent in the deficit, falling 76-60.

Each team was led by a dynamic scorer as Grade 10 star Avery Sussex scored 32 points for the Rapids –

including an impressive 10-for-11 from the free throw line – while Walnut Grove’s Kiera Pemberton (Grade 11) continued her offensive explosion over the past few days, scoring 36 points while also pulling down 23 rebounds.

Terry Fox Ravens 83 Okanagan Mission Huskies 76

A 45-point game from Lauren Clements has the Terry Fox Ravens one win away from a championship title. Clements scored the ninth-most points in 4A Tournament history, hitting 18 of her 34 field goals attempts to lift the third-seed Ravens past the No. 2 Okanagan Mission Huskies (Kelowna) by an 83-46 score. She also pulled down 11 rebounds. The Huskies were led by 19 points and 11 rebounds from Kanani Coon while Tatum Wade chipped in with 17.

The Ravens led by 14 early in the third quarter and while OKM was able to trim that down to a single point in the fourth (66-65), Terry Fox responded with an 11-4 run to take back control.

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