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Langley teams heading to semi-finals in girls provincial basketball championships

Semis are Friday while the finals take place Saturday
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The Walnut Grove Gators have something to celebrate. They are through to the semis. (Vancouver Sports Pictures/Special to Black Press Media)

by Gary Ahuja/Langley Events Centre

All four top seeds in each of the three respective draws have advanced to the semi-final round at the 2023 BC School Sports Girls Basketball Provincial Championships following the quarter-final round on Thursday at Langley Events Centre.

The semi-final round begins on Friday at 11:45 a.m.

4A

The top seed Walnut Grove Gators needed a late-game rally and overtime to survive as they knocked off the No. 9 Claremont Spartans 79-72. Kiera Pemberton continued her chase of the 4A Tournament scoring record as she potted another 45 points to lead the Gators into the semi-final round.

The Spartans’ Adia Pye (27 points) and Iva Kalabric (21 points) led Claremont.

Walnut Grove will face the Yale Lions in Friday’s semi-final round after the fourth-seeded Lions defeated the Seaquam Seahawks 77-67. Yale led by 20 at the half before the Seahawks came to life, cutting the deficit down to four points late in the fourth quarter. However, Yale would ice the game from the free throw line down the stretch as they scored the final six points from the charity stripe.

Samara Mason (22 points) and Maggy Curtis (19 points) led the Lions while Sydney Roufosse had 16 for Seaquam.

The latter matchup will be a pair of Fraser North rivals as both the No. 2 Burnaby Central Wildcats and No. 3 Riverside Rapids prevailed in their respective quarter-final contests.

Riverside was a 59-46 winner over the No. 6 Kelowna Owls as the Rapids took over in the fourth quarter. Riverside was ahead by three with 10 minutes to play but held the Owls to just six points. Avery Sussex led the Riverside attack with 27 points. Mav Chahal was tops for Kelowna with 19 points.

Burnaby Central trailed for much of the game before finally pulling ahead in the fourth quarter, winning 83-74 over the No. 7 Okanagan Mission Huskies. Jade Huynh scored 26 of her 38 points in the second half to lead the way while younger sister Jayla Huynh scored 22. Kanani Coon was tops for the Huskies with 23.

3A

The past two defending 3A Tournament champions – the Abbotsford Senior Panthers (2020) and the R.A. McMath Wildcats (2022) – are set to see which one will play for the 2023 crown.

The Wildcats – who are the third seed – won 48-36 over the No. 6 Sa-Hali Sabres. The McMath defence was ruthless in the first half, holding the Sabres to a dozen points. Marina Radocaj finished with 22 points in the win while Sa-Hali’s leading scorer was Temi Aina with 11 points.

The Panthers blew open a close game at the half (they were leading by five) with a 22-7 third quarter on the way to the 79-54 win for the second seed against the No. 7 Argyle Pipers. Nyah Vermeulen (26 points) and Malia Lenz (25 points) keyed the Panthers attack. Reese Tam had 20 (including six 3-pointers) for the Pipers.

The top half of the bracket features the No. 1 St. Michaels University School Blue Jags against the No. 4 ranked South Kamloops Titans. The Titans won 67-36 over the No. 5 M.E.I. Eagles behind 21 points from Lucy Marchese and Grace McDonald’s 18. Bree Neufeld led the Eagles with 13.

And the Blue Jags were convincing 68-35 winners over the No. 8 Little Flower Academy Angels. Makena Anderson’s 22 points led the way offensively for the S.M.U.S. Isabella Heffring had 13 for the Angels.

2A

The defending champion Langley Christian Lightning used a dominant second quarter where they outscored the Fernie Falcons 30-2 to blow open their quarter-final contest over the Fernie Falcons. The Lightning were up 23-20 before they delivered a dominant 10-minute stretch to win 87-59.

Grace Bradshaw (30 points) and Colette Vanderhoven (24 points) led the way for the Lightning while Kadie Anderson countered with 37 for the Falcons.

Langley Christian’s semi-final opponent will be the No. 3 Pacific Christian Pacers, after the Victoria school held off the No. 6 Notre Dame Jugglers 75-70. Abi Ellison (25 points) and Joaleah Tupas-Singh (23 points) led the Pacers. Emily Chan with 22 points.

The other semi-final game has the top seed Mulgrave Titans and the fourth seed Holy Cross Crusaders. The Crusaders edged the fifth-seeded St. Thomas More Collegiate Knights 48-46 while Mulgrave topped the No. 9 Abbotsford Traditional Titans 63-35 in a battle of the Titans.

Mulgrave’s Ava Wilson had 18 points and Abbotsford Traditional’s Janeesh Sran scored 18.

In the Holy Cross contest, the Crusaders scored the final four points to eke out the victory. Isla Iannuzzi had 18 to lead the Crusaders and Danica Fontana scored 12 for the Knights.

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For full schedule, scores, game sheets and more information, please visit http://www.bchighschoolbasketballchampionships.com/

Single game and tournament passes are available for sale online. Games are also available to stream through pay-per-view at tfsetv.ca