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From the second week of the season on, the Walnut Grove Gators and Kelowna Owls were clearly the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in B.C. School Sports 4A boys basketball.
Nothing changed on Saturday at the Langley Events Centre as the Gators defeated the Owls for a fifth straight time — on this occasion by a 78-65 decision — and dethroned the reigning champions at 72nd annual edition of the tournament.
A game that was billed as a showdown between B.C. high school’s two marquee point guards — the Owls’ Mason Bourcier and Walnut Grove’s Ty Rowell — it was the latter who came away with the provincial title because a stronger supporting cast in the championship tilt that attracted a record crowd of 5,009 fans at the LEC.
While Bourcier, with 29 points, five rebounds and eight assists, was selected as the championship game’s outstanding player, Rowell led the Gators to their second BCSS pennant win with 31 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
But 23 points and six assists from tournament MVP, James Woods, and a valiant 16-rebound effort by Jake Cowley proved to be the difference for the hometown Gators. Cowley didn’t play in the Gators’ semifinal win over the Holy Cross Crusaders and wasn’t supposed to start in the final either — according to Walnut Grove coach George Bergen.
But with two sprained ankles and a chin that was cut early in the final game, the 6-foot-9 forward, and 6-foot-8 second-team tournament all-star, Andrew Goertzen, outmanned the Owls’ Owen Keyes down the stretch.
While the Keyes, committed to the UBC Okanagan Heat beginning this fall, appeared to have the upper hand early on, scoring seven points and three boards in a 21-18 (Kelowna) first quarter, the Gators’ duo made life miserable under the rim for the 6-foot-10 Owl as the game progressed.
Still, the Owls went up by six points (30-24) midway through the second quarter on back-to-back buckets by Keyes. But with a minute remaining in the half, the Gators took the lead for the first time and went up by five (37-32) on a long three-point shot by Rowell with eight seconds left.
Despite Bourcier going on a tear in a third quarter that saw him drain four of his seven three-pointers in the game, the Owls, who led by four at one point, couldn’t shake the Gators. They trailed 58-57 at the end of a third quarter that was capped by a spectacular off-balance, off-the-glass buzzer-beating trey by Bourcier.
The two teams traded baskets for the first six minutes of a fast-paced fourth quarter, but after an Owls’ timeout with the Gators leading by two, Walnut Grove put down two quick baskets and took their biggest lead of the game to that point at 71-65.
The Owls never a challenged after that.
The No. 1 team in the province separated themselves from No. 2 at crunch time.
Keyes finished with 18 points and eight rebounds and Grade 11 David Wieczorek contributed 11 points and 10 boards, but there just wasn't enough production from the rest of the KSS lineup. Grade 11, Matt Williamson, chosen as the tournament’s outstanding defensive player was limited to two points by the Gators’ own stifling defence.
Bourcier and Rowell lived up to expectations with their artful play and stunning shot making. Both were named to the tournament's first all-star team along Keyes after their final game of high school basketball.
Kelowna Christian Knights claim 1A silver
The Kelowna Christian School Knights accomplished most of what they had planned for in the Telus B.C. School Sports senior 1A boys championship game on Saturday.
However left unchecked (literally) on the to-do list was B.C. Christian Academy forward Zack Kuzyk, who was good on seven of 14 shots from beyond the arc and finished with 32 points in leading the pre-tournament No. 2-ranked Panthers from Port Coquitlam to a 68-63 title win at the Langley Events Centre.
“We sure didn’t stop their No. 9 (Kuzyk),” Knights’ coach Tim Martens shared with Varsity Letters’ Howard Tsumura in an interview after the game. “He lit us up. We had some goals to stop No. 15 (Cody Dowell) and No. 13 (Quentin Onyemordi) and we seemed to accomplish that, but No. 9 surprised us a bit. And you know what? They just outplayed us.”
Martens, who had to settle for provincial silver after guiding the Knights to gold in 2015 and bronze last year, could have added Panthers’ 6-foot-3 guard, Harry Oghomienor as another missed on the KCS checklist.
Only in Grade 8, the graceful and determined Nigerian-born hoopster played way beyond his years to score 18 points and grab six rebounds on the way to being named the tournament’s most valuable player.
“It feels so good because this is my first year at the school,” said Oghomienor. “I was pretty nervous because yesterday, in the semifinals, I twisted my ankles. I just prayed to God to help me and I was able to play.”
A key storyline in the 16-team tournament final included the appearance of former KCS Knights coach, Gib Hinz, on the B.C. Christian Academy bench.
For the much-travelled basketball mentor it was his fifth BCSS blue banner, having won four of them while at Kelowna Christian School earlier in this decade. He also led high school teams to three provincial titles in Saskatchewan before coming to Kelowna to coach the Knights and later the Heritage Christian School Saints, who on Saturday claimed the 1A provincial bronze medal.
Hinz conceded the 2017 title was something special.
“It’s not often a coach gets to play two teams he’s coached in the past on the way to a provincial championship. In some ways it was bittersweet,” he said. “But overall, it’s amazing. You just try to work with these kids and try to get them to this place where it’s the last game you can get to, and then just see if we can leave it all out on the floor.
“I am so pumped for every one of them. All of them are special,” he told Tsumura.
As for Knights, who went into the 16-team tournament ranked fifth after losing to Heritage in the Okanagan Valley championship, they couldn’t quite keep up with the depth of the Panthers.
Jackson Borne, a tournament second-team all-star, led KCS with 18 points, Carter Martens, who scored 30 in the Knights’ upset of No. 1-ranked Ron Pettigrew Christian Lions of Dawson Creek in semifinal play on Friday, was held to 15 points,while hauling in 10 boards. He was the lone Knight to be named to the first all-star team. Cruz Andersen finished with 11 points in his final game for the Knights and Jackson Katler, in his first year with the KCS senior team, contributed nine points and 12 rebounds, while earning second-team recognition.
HCS Saints bronze medalists on first try
It was an auspicious debut for the Heritage Christian School Saints at the B.C. School Sports senior 1A basketball championship.
Appearing in their first-ever provincial tournament, the Saints won three of four games, their final one — a 93-86 decision over the pre-tournament top-seeded Ron Pettigrew Christian Lions of Dawson Creek on Saturday at the Langley Events Centre — earning them a bronze medal.
The Okanagan Valley champions jumped out to a big lead early on and held a 49-42 margin at the half, but relinquished the lead (83-84) with less that three minutes remaining in regulation time, only to recover and claim their first provincial medal.
Isaac Opuma scored 28 points that included five of the Saints’ 17 in the treys in the game to lead his team and earn player-of-the-game honours. Sam Bell, a tournament first-team all-star, continued his consistent play and finished with 22 points and also netted five shots from three-point land.
The Saints, who drew a crowd of schoolmates at their own gym in Kelowna on a Saturday to watch the live stream, received a 15-point, 13-rebound performance from Ben Robideau. Joshua Weeks came close to a triple double, finishing with 14 points, 12 boards and nine assists, while teammate Raymond Barrett was also named to the tournament’s second all-star team.
George Elliot Coyotes win final two games in 2A tournament
Competing in their first B.C. School Sports provincial senior 2A boys basketball championship in 21 years, the George Elliot Coyotes split their four games and finished in 13th place among the 16 teams.
The Coyotes, ranked No. 13 prior to the tournament at the Langley Events Centre, defeated the No. 6 Pacific Academy Breakers 92-87 in their final game on Saturday.
Fynn McCarthy, playing in his final game for the Coyotes before joining the UBC Thunderbirds’ volleyball team this fall, posted 35 points and three dunks (52 for the season) to lead the Lake Country representatives.
Elliot also received a solid performance from Justin Battye, who finished with 24 points, while Grade 10 Nic Lafontaine added 11 go along with 10 from Keenan Ladd.
The Coyotes opened the tournament with a pair of losses, falling 112-71 to the No. 4 G.W. Graham Grizzlies of Chilliwack and dropping an 87-66 decision to North Vancouver’s No. 12 St. Thomas Aquinas 87-66 before claiming their first win (104-45) against No. 16 Prince Charles of Creston on Friday.
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