It was all about redemption for the Brookswood Bobcats.
The junior girls basketball team had their string of 13 consecutive Langley District championship titles ended last year by the Walnut Grove Gators. But a dramatic last-second 36-35 victory over the Langley Christian Lightning in this year’s title game returned the ’Cats to glory.
The game was played last week (Feb. 6) in the Langley Events Centre’s arena bowl.
“Last year left a bad taste in our mouths,” said Brookswood coach Sarah Cameron, who is an alum of the Bobcats program that was part of that string of titles during her playing days.
“There is a pretty good track record at Brookswood and it is important for me to keep it alive.
“It was nice to bring the trophy back home.”
Cameron added that she wants the current players to experience that same winning tradition that she did.
Brookswood led for much of the final, but a pair of free throws from Langley Christian’s Jayden Bontkes put her team ahead 35-34. And the Lightning had the ball but Brookswood’s Kelly Boudreau came up with the steal, threw the ball ahead to Sidney Lancaster, who in turn got it down low to Emily MacDonald. MacDonald sunk what would be the winning basket with about five seconds to play.
After a timeout, Langley Christian got one shot off but missed and the ’Cats nabbed the rebound.
Brookswood was up 23-15 at the half and by six points after three quarters, 32-26, but scored just four points in the final quarter.
“As the game went on, we got a little tight, especially in the fourth quarter,” Cameron said.
“It was a combination of being pretty inexperienced and not being in too many tight games.”
MacDonald and Jordan Lawrie led Brookswood with 10 points apiece while the Lightning’s Hannah Krepp had 11 points to lead her team.
The teams had finished one-two during the regular season with Brookswood beating Langley Christian by three points in their game.
Both teams advance to the Fraser Valley championships — which begin Feb. 17 and wrap up Feb. 22 — as do the Credo Christian Kodiaks and the R.E. Mountain Eagles.
The Kodiaks beat the Eagles 32-24 in the third-place game.
“The first step was to win Langley Districts and now we will see what happens,” Cameron said.