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The Okanagan Mission Huskies have added a second exclamation mark to the depth of girls basketball in the Central Okanagan.
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While the Kelowna Owls provided the first by winning a B.C. School Sports senior AAA provincial championship in 2018, the Huskies will complement the Kelowna Secondary School team’s bid for a repeat this year by joining the Owls at the 2019championship tournament in Langley Feb. 27-March 2.
In a rare scenario, two Kelowna-area teams will compete for the triple-A provincial crown — the Owls as Okanagan champions and the No. 5 seed in the 70th annual event and the Huskies as wild-card participants, ranked eighth among the 16 teams.
The Owls will take on No.l 12 Mt. Baker Wild of Cranbrook in their opening game while the Huskies will meet No. 9 Abbotsford Panthers in their first-ever game at the AAA championship tournament.
On the heels of a hard-fought loss to the Owls at the Okanagan Valley championship tournament final in Penticton on Saturday, OKM defeated the Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers of Surrey 84-77 on Tuesday in Merritt to earn the back-door berth at Provincials.
Although ahead 47-33 at the half and leading the rest of the way, the Huskies were up by only two points with about five minutes remaining before pulling away with the help of a three-pointer and two long field goals by Melaina Corrado.
Jenna Robinson scored 23 points and added nine assists for the Huskies while fellow senior, Jordan Robb, netted 20 points and six rebounds to lead the Huskies. Corrado (Grade 11) contributed 17 points and Stef Young had 11 points, 14 rebounds and six steals.
OKM head coach, Meghan Faust, said she couldn’t be more proud of her team — playing in its first season at the AAA level after finishing sixth in the province in the AA division a year ago.
“They showed they weren’t ready for the season to be over and fought like crazy to keep it live,” she said after the win on the other end of the Connector. “Jenna and Jordan really stepped up as our leaders . . . which was really cool to see because the last time we were in the position to play a challenge game, they were both Grade 9s on the senior team.”
Tuesday’s game was really an extension of the gritty performance by the Huskies against the favoured Owls in the Valley final on Saturday that saw OKM lead for nearly the entire game, only to “run out of steam” down the stretch in a 68-59 defeat.
“I was incredibly pleased with the fight the girls showed, especially after losing by so much (52 points) in our final regular-season game a week earlier,” said Faust, whose team (ranked No. 10) has lost all three games this season against the Owls, who were sitting at No. 5 in the lastest provincial ranking.
Jaeli Ibbetson, heading to the UBC Okanagan Heat this fall, led the Owls with a 34-point performance against the Huskies, and afterward, was presented with the most valuable player award at the Valley's championship tournament. Teammate Kennedy Dickie, signed on with the NCAA Div. 1 Eastern Washington University Eagles beginning in 2019-20, added 16 points and was selected as Okanagan tournament all-star.
Rylee Semeniuk and Kassidy Day were also named to the Okanagan first all-star team while Nicole Torozan was chosen the top defensive player in the two-day event that saw the Owls defeat the Mt. Boucherie Bears 116-34 in one semifinal and the Huskies down Penticton 67-36 in the other.
Robinson, a Valley first-team all-star, again led the Huskies with 15 points, nine assists and five boards in the final against the Owls while Young chipped in with 12 points, four rebounds and four steals to earn most-inspirational-player status. Grade 10, Lily Pink, completed the all-Central Okanagan first all-star team in the Valley with her selection.
Corrado was named to the Valley’s second all-star team along with Jordan Kemper of the Owls and Jordyn Tattersall of Mt. Boucherie.
Photo Gallery (85 photos) on KelownaNowSports Facebook page
Photo Gallery (85 photos) on KelownaNowSports Facebook page
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