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The Walnut Grove Gators made it a clean sweep of the host Kelowna Owls on the weekend.
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Not only did Langley’s quad-A boys team win its fourth straight game this season against the Owls with a 64-59 decision in the Interior Savings Western Canada Basketball Tournament final, the AAA girls squad defeated the Lady Owls 68-64 in a tournament encounter earlier on Saturday.
Following victories over the Penticton Lakers and the Duchess Park Condors in the four-team round-robin affair, the Owls came up short against Walnut Grove despite 21-point performances by Kennedy Dickie and Courtney Donaldson, the latter being named the player of the game.
Dez Day added 18 points in a losing cause for the Owls while Dickie also stood tall under the basket, pulling down 12 rebounds.
The Owls opened the tournament by downing Penticton 77-40, led by Donaldson’s 19 points and five steals. Dickie contributed 14 points, 11 rebounds and three steals while Alley Corrado added nine points, four rebounds and two steals.
The win over Duchess Park was a 69-57 decision in which Donaldson again set the pace offensively with 16 points. Dickie netted 15 to go along with 12 from Rachel Hare and Day, the player of the game.
The Owls are on the court again on Tuesday when they travel to West Kelowna to take on the Mt. Boucherie Bears in an Okanagan Valley league game beginning at 6 p.m. The boys’ game is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.
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OKM Huskies continue solid play at Vancouver tournament
Despite dropping a 67-44 decision to the No. 1-ranked Seycove Seyhawks in a tournament final in Vancouver, the Okanagan Mission Huskies came away with a positive vibe as they prepare for the upcoming Okanagan Valley AA championship.
“Overall it was a great weekend,” noted OKM’s assistant coach, Cassidy deVeer of the team’s performance at York House School. “Our objective was to make the final and we accomplished that — yet another goal met.”
Grade 10 Jordan Robb, a first-team all-star, scored 11 points in the title match while the gritty Marin Felt added 10 points and three steals in a player-of-the-game performance.
Coach deVeer pointed out that OKM guard, Hannah Walline, heading the University of Victoria next year, was guarded by their opponents' top defenders all weekend, so it was imperative that her teammates stepped up.
“It was a team effort all the way through,” said deVeer. “It’s our depth that carries us through the tough games.”
In one of the most exciting matchups of the season, the Huskies came back from an early seven-point deficit to edge the No. 8-ranked G.W. Graham Grizzlies of Chilliwack 52-49 in semifinal play.
Although taking a 36-32 lead into the fourth quarter, the Huskies found themselves trailing by one midway through the final frame. But following an outstanding defensive play by Walline to stop a fast-break layup and with a subsequent quick transition, Robb was good on her own layup to give OKM the lead again.
The Grizzlies later turned the ball over out of bounds and OKM called a timeout to advance the ball. GWG fouled immediately on the inbounds to Malley Richardson and she hit both free-throws to put the Huskies up three with 35 seconds left.
The Huskies held off GWG the rest of the way with a “great team effort” on defence.
Robb netted 13 points and grabbed five rebounds while Richardson and Kiara Gaspari, a tournament all-star, each scored eight points.
Seeded No. 4 in the province going into the weekend, the Huskies opened play by defeating the host York House Tigers 78-47.
Taking a 10-point lead early on, the Huskies never looked back as all members of the team contributed to the lopsided victory.
Robb finished with 18 points and 10 boards, with Reanne Mitchell and Gaspari (eight rebounds) both scoring 13 points. Richardson also had a well-rounded game, finishing with 10 points, recording five assists and adding five steals.
The Huskies, Central Okanagan AA zone champions, now are preparing for the Okanagan Valley championship tournament being held at OKM Feb. 16-17. At least two of the top teams will represent the Valley at the B.C. championship in Langley next month.
Sweep for Kelowna Owls at Valley curling playdown
Both Kelowna Secondary School curling teams went undefeated on the weekend and will represent the Okanagan at the B.C. School Sports provincial curling playdowns in Smithers March 2-4.
The KSS boys, skipped by Logan Miron, swept four matches at the Valley championships at the McArthur Island Curling Rink in Kamloops. Miron and his rink of Ewan Murray, Ramsay Murray and Bryan Cresswell defeated the Sahali Sabres of Kamloops 7-3 in the title game.
The Owls opened with wins over South Kamloops (5-3) and North Kamloops (5-4) on Saturday and downed the Okanagan Mission Huskies 7-2 in semifinal play.
For Miron and the Murray brothers, it’s the third straight year they’ve qualified for provincials while for Cresswell, it’s his second consecutive trip to the B.C. championship.
The KSS girls also defeated Sahali in their final after victories over South Kamloops (10-4), North Kamloops (8-2) and the George Elliot Coyotes (9-8).
Katelyn McGillivray skips the Owls team while Ana Trigalet of KSS, Erika Ellis of KLO Middle and Naiomi Hayward of Dr. Knox Middle round out the winning foursome.
Meanwhile, the George Elliot girls edged South Kamloops 9-8 but lost 11-5 to Sahali, 7-2 to North Kamloops and 7-6 to Kelowna Secondary. The game with KSS was decided with a measurement in an extra end. A young Coyotes team, skipped by Grade 9 Abby Otteson and coached by Dave McGarry, also includes Jaden Lloyd (Grade 8), Laiken Gibson (Grade 8) and lead Ella Casparis (Grade 7).
The OKM boys team is a young first-year rink that competed well against more experienced teams. They lost to Sahali 9-8 and downed Westsyde 5-2 in the round-robin portion of the Valley event, while defeating North Kamloops 6-3 in quarter-final play and losing 7-2 to KSS in their semifinal meeting.
The Huskies, skipped by Grade 10 Spencer Ursel and coached by his parents Bob and Leanne Ursel, includes Ethan Loewen (Grade 10), Kyle Butterworth (Grade 10) and Brady Diduck (Grade 10). Seth Loewen is the alternate.
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