More often than not, defence has led the way for the Langley Christian Lightning.
And Thursday afternoon was no different as the Lightning defeated the Archbishop Carney Stars 47-32 in the Grade 8 girls championship final at the Langley Events Centre.
The Lightning held the Stars to four points in the first quarter, leading 10-4 at the first break, before finding their offence in the second while still holding Archbishop Carney to single-digit points in the quarter, leading 25-10 at half-time.
“I think for us it was just finding a little bit of our defence,” said Langley Christian coach Danielle Gardner.
“We have always prided ourselves on trying to get stops on defence.”
Lainey Shelvey led the Lightning with 17 points while Taelor Coxford also hit double digits with 10 points.
“Give credit to Carney, they played a tough game,” Gardner said.
Langley Christian was the top team during the regular season, winning the Langley league with a 7-0 record. After a first-round bye, the Lightning beat the Walnut Grove Gators in the semifinals.
The Stars were third during the regular season but upset No. 2 Yorkson Creek to advance to Thursday’s final.
Yorkson Creek did beat Walnut Grove in the third-place game and all four teams, as well as fifth-place Brookswood, advance to next week’s Fraser Valley championships.
The Fraser Valley championships begin Feb. 14.
“Just do our best, play hard and see what happens,” Gardner said about the team’s expectations.
Regardless of what happens next, it has been a successful season so far.
In addition to winning the Langley district banner, the Lightning also came out on top at the Christian Schools’ Tournament earlier this season.
“I think the goal was just to get better every practice, every game,” Gardner said.
“We had a mix of players, some that had played a lot and some that had never touched the ball (so) that was our goal, just to improve.”
sports@langleytimes.com
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