It was a great moment for a little school from Dawson Creek late Saturday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre, as the Ron Pettigrew Christian Lions captured the B.C. Single A senior boys basketball title.
The Lions won the first B.C. high school championship in their school’s 28-year history by downing the hometown Credo Christian Kodiaks 69-58 in the final.
The Kodiaks had a fine showing in their own right. En route to the gold medal game, they beat Sparwood 90-81, Duncan Christian 63-48, and Kelowna Christian 62-57 in Friday’s semifinal.
Credo Christan’s Dustin Flokstra and Levi Leyehorst were named provincial first team all-stars.
“I thought the guys played very well,” Kodiaks coach Justin Vanderploeg said. “I was pretty proud of the way they kept competing the whole tournament and flat-out worked hard.”
As for how his players handled the loss to those Cinderella Lions, who were ranked seventh in B.C., Vanderploeg said, “They are a pretty mature bunch. They took it hard, of course, but after an hour or two it started sinking in about just what they had accomplished. They were happy with how they played and there were no regrets.”