THE defending champion Kelowna Owls are still alive following the narrowest of victories in their quarter-final match-up but if they hope to repeat, they will have to get through the undefeated No. 1 seed, the Semiahmoo Totems, in the semifinals.
The other semifinal pits a pair of Langley squads in the No. 2 Walnut Grove Gators and the No. 6 Brookswood Bobcats as it is down to the final four teams at the B.C. Secondary School Girls AAA Basketball Championships at Langley Events Centre.
The semifinals are at 7:00 and 8:45 p.m. on Friday night.
For full results from all day two for all 16 teams, click here.
No. 5 Kelowna Owls 65 No. 4 Yale Lions 64
The fifth-seed Kelowna Owls held off the No. 4 Yale Lions (Abbotsford) 65-64 to open the quarter-final round. The game was back-and-forth as the score was tied seven times with another seven lead changes.
Kelowna was down 63-60 with 2:47 to go but the Owls scored the next five points and then survived an late scare when the Lions’ were only able to knock down one of two free throws a chance to force overtime.
The Owls came flying out of the gates leading by as many as eight points in the first quarter before Yale took a two-point lead at the half.
Jaeli Ibbetson had a monster game for Kelowna with 21 points and 20 rebounds while Kennedy Dickie also had a double-double (15 points, 14 rebounds) and Rylee Semeniuk scored 13.
The Lions, who had just six players available, received 26 points, a dozen boards, three steals and three blocked shots from Tana Pankratz and another 10 points, eight rebounds and five steals from Kyleigh Boldt. Jessica Day chipped in with six points, 12 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
No. 1 Semiahmoo Totems 86 No. 8 Okanagan Mission Huskies 33
The Semiahmoo Totems big three of Grade 12 Faith Dut and Grade 10’s Izzy Forsyth and Tara Wallack combined for 57 points and 31 rebounds in a second-straight rout for the tournament’s top seed.
Forsyth scored a game-high 30 points on 11 of 24 shooting while grabbing a dozen boards. She also dished out five assists and came up with a pair of steals. Dut (15 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, one assist) and Wallack (12 points, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals, one block).
The Totems shot nearly 40 per cent from the field.
Jordan Robb (12 points) and Makenna Jacklin (11 points) were top scorers for the Huskies.
No. 6 Brookswood Bobcats 90 No. 3 Riverside Rapids 86
For the second straight game, the Brookswood Bobcats (Langley) were in a nail-biter down the stretch and once again the ‘Cats came through, holding off the Riverside Rapids (Port Coquitlam) 90-86.
Brookswood was up by 17 late in the second quarter but the Rapids came rushing back, trimming the deficit to 10 after three quarters and taking a four-point lead with 2:50 to go. But the Bobcats shooting was on the mark, connecting on 44.7 per cent of their field goals and 42.9 per cent of their three-point shots, while also holding a 50-32 advantage for points in the paint for the comeback victory.
Jenna Dick had her second consecutive big game, scoring 28 points and grabbing 11 rebounds (all on the defensive end). She also dished out eight assists and had five steals.
Olivia Ohlmann and Mackenzie Cox each had 14 points while Kelsey Lalonde finished with a dozen.
The Rapids were led by the duo of Jessica Parker (36 points) and Sammy Shields (32 points).
No. 2 Walnut Grove Gators 86 No. 7 Robert Bateman Timberwolves 45
The Walnut Grove Gators (Langley) hit as many three-pointers (11) as they did three-pointers in their 86-45 win over Abbotsford’s Robert Bateman Timberwolves.
A big advantage for the Gators was points off turnovers (32-7) and second-chance points (28-10) which both went in favour of Walnut Grove.
Jessica Wisotzki led the Gators with 30 points and 13 rebounds while Tavia Rowell had 20 points, five rebounds and five assists. Anneke Cairnie had a dozen rebounds to go along with two points.
Bateman’s Jayden Gill had a team-high 16 points and 12 rebounds.