For the first time in school history, the Langley Christian Lightning junior girls have won the district basketball title.
The Lightning defeated the Brookswood Bobcats — who had won 14 of the past 15 titles at this age group — on Thursday at the Langley Events Centre.
Play together and stay calm,” said Lindsay Westerink, who coaches the Lightning alongside Cynthia Wergeld.
She was relaying the team’s strategy for the game.
The times when Brookswood would make a run and her team seemed jittery, the coach said she only had to remind them to relax and focus.
“Ultimately, our girls have lots of gifts and abilities,” she said. “And we want use those to honour (God).”
The game was tied at 10 after one quarter and the Lightning took a 23-16 lead into the half.
The lead was still seven points, 31-24 after three quarters, before Langley Christian sunk their free throws down the stretch to win 48-36. The Lightning hit seven free throws in the final minutes.
Natasha Dickhof led Langley Christian with 12 points while Liesl VanWyk had 10 and Emma Hansen had nine.
Brookswood was led by Jasmyn Faulkner’s 14 points.
Westerink said it was amazing to be a part of the first Langley Christian squad to win the junior girls title.
The victory automatically qualifies the Lightning for the main draw of the Fraser Valley championships, which will be hosted at the LEC.
The Lightning were the top team during league play and beat the Langley Saints 70-22 in the semifinals. Brookswood, ranked second, defeated the Walnut Grove Gators 52-43 in the other semifinal,
All four teams advance to the Fraser Valley regional championships.
The Gators beat the Saints 45-32 in the third-place game.