Pacers rally to defeat Grizzlies while Flames oust Kodiaks

The Pacific Christian Pacers celebrate following their semi-final victory over the Sir Alexander Mackenzie Grizzlies on Friday. The Pacers now play the Unity Christian Flames in the BC School Sports 1A Girls Basketball Provincial Championships. Vancouver Sports Pictures photo

It will be a battle of the top two seeds for the BC School Sports 1A Girls Basketball Provincial Championships.

The top-ranked Pacific Christian Pacers used a huge second-half rally to knock off the fifth-seed Sir Alexander Mackenzie Grizzlies while their championship opponent will be the No. 2 Unity Christian Flames, who exacted a measure of revenge in taking down the No. 3 seed (and defending champion) Credo Christian Kodiaks 49-37.

After the Grizzlies went up 13 early in the third, the Pacers went on a 14-0 run to get right back in the game. And with the score tied at 56 in the final quarter, it would be Pacific Christian rattling off another 12 unanswered points to book their spot in the championship final.

Kealayna Tupas-Singh’s 29 points and Abi Ellison’s 27 led the Pacers. Ellison’s total included four three-pointers. The Grizzlies were led by the trio of Ayanna Parr (25 points), Annika Parr (17) and Kashlyn Mack (16).

Pacific Christian’s opponent will be Unity Christian as the Flames clamped down defensively in the fourth quarter to defeat Credo Christian 49-37. The Kodiaks opened the final quarter with a basket, cutting the lead to one, but the Flames would not allow another point until after they scored 13 of their own to win by a dozen.

Miah Schuurman’s 30 points were tops for the Flames. Demi Timmerman’s 16 points and Alexa Leyenhorst’s 13 led Credo Christian.

The two teams will tip off for the gold medal on Saturday (March 1) at 1:45p.m.

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