Langley’s Brookswood Bobcats and Langley Christian Lightning teams were golden at the 2024 BC School Sports Girls Basketball Provincial Championships on Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.
Lightning won the 2A title 75-69 over the Mulgrave Titans from West Vancouver, while the 3A final saw the Bobcats win in overtime 69-63 against Victoria’s St. Michaels University School.
2A Tournament
The game was a rematch of the 2022 championship game, where the Lightning broke through in a 70-60 win over the Titans for their first title in program history.
The Lightning came into this year’s 2A finals after a heartbreaking loss the year prior, coming up short against Pacific Christian in the semi-final’s dying minutes.
By the halfway point, Lightning led the Titans 39-29. Langley’s Payton Brunoro led the scoring for the first half with 12 points and two 3-pointers.
A fantastic final between our last 2 champions!
— BC 2A Girls Basketball (@BC2AGirlsBBall) March 3, 2024
📹 @TFSETV pic.twitter.com/25vnoZfjXW
Once both teams returned from the halftime break, the dynamic of the game began to shift. The Titans rattled off a 13-4 run, trimming the Lightning lead to single digits.
“We just had to weather the storm,” said Langley head coach Danie Gardner.
As the game reached its final minutes, both teams exchanged shots before a 3-point shot from Payton Brunoro – who was later named Championship Player of the Game – gave the Lightning the lead for good.
For guard Grace Bradshaw, the win meant more than just a provincial title, as Bradshaw had suffered an ACL tear in the team’s semi-final defeat a season ago.
“Grace went down with her ACL in the last few seconds of the semi-final last year, and then this year, her leading us … she’s a huge reason we won tonight,” said Gardner. “It was hard to lose (last year), but harder to lose her.”
“My team has really rallied around me through my ups and downs. I’m coming back from a second ACL tear,” said Bradshaw, “It’s been an emotional roller coaster, but they’ve rallied around me, and we put a lot of work in together.”
READ ALSO: Langley teams made the finals of the BC School Sports Championships
3A Tournament
It was 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.
40 minutes couldn't decide a winner, so we needed overtime to crown our champion!
— BC 3A Girls Basketball (@BC3AGirlsBBall) March 3, 2024
📹 @TFSETV pic.twitter.com/PXMnUhuK48
“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.
READ ALSO: Girls high school basketball championships bringing 64 teams to Langley courts
In the 1A tournament, it was 83-75 for the Unity Christian Flames (Chilliwack) over Pacific Christian (Victoria) while the 4A final was 79-73 for Delta’s Seaquam Seahawks over Port Coquitlam’s Riverside Rapids.
Interviews with coaches courtesy Langley Events Centre.