Vernon Panthers sink Kal Lakers for Zone title
Karley Fugel drained 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as the VSS Panthers brushed off the Kalamalka Lakers 62-39 Saturday night in the North Zone Senior AA Girls Basketball Championships at Fulton.
The No. 10-ranked Panthers open the Okanagan Valley playdowns Thursday at Sa-Hali in Kamloops against the Okanagan Mission Huskies of Kelowna.
“All season, the girls have shown a good ability to get better as the game goes on, and tonight was no different in the championship game,” said Bobby Mitchell, who co-coaches the Cats with Lonny Mazaruk.
“We are very proud of the girls. They have worked hard all season and were well deserving of the victory. We are excited to get back to practice and prepare for the Valleys.”
Sage Blundell rung up 13 points and nine boards, while Quinsy Leier supplied a dozen points and nine rebounds for the Cats, who won the regular-season title at 8-0.
Kal (5-3) got 13 points from Katie Rogers, 10 from Sarah Kelman and eight from Paige Ralston. The Lakers face the Summerland Rockets Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in their first Valley game.
The Fulton Maroons, who finished third in the Zone tourney, square off against the No. 8 South Okanagan Hornets of Oliver.
The Revelstoke Rams and Princess Margaret Mustangs of Penticton met in a Tuesday-night wildcard tilt at Seaton with the winner drawing the Sa-Hali Sabres Thursday at 1:45.
Sa-Hali, at No. 5, are the highest ranked team at the Valley finals. The Brittania Lions of Vancouver and the Lambrick Park Pride of Victoria are one-two in the province.
The B.C. tournament goes March 7-10 in Kamloops.
Meanwhile, the Fulton Maroons slammed the Pleasant Valley Saints of Armstrong 71-43 in the North Zone senior boys final Saturday night.
Steve Porcaro went 6-for-8 from the charity stripe and finished with 17 points for Fulton. Mitchell Rouault flushed 16 points, Dustin Popoff pocketed a dozen and Austin Richardson counted 10.
The Maroons won the regular-season crown at 9-1, edging out the 9-1 Saints on head-to-head point differential. Fulton will face either Okanagan Mission or Valleyview Vikings of Kamloops in their Valley opener, Thursday at 8:45 p.m. at Thompson Rivers University Gym.
The Huskies and Vikings played a backdoor challenge game Tuesday night at Fulton.
Pleasant Valley, who also advance to the Okanagan Valley playoff tournament, got 12 points from Tian Hannah and eight from Neil McKechnie.
Seaton (6-4 regular season) took third spot in the Zones with an 86-78 overtime win over the Kalamalka Lakers, and open the Valleys Thursday at 3:30 p.m. against South Okanagan.
The Maroons, who received an Honourable Mention in the B.C. top-10 rankings, go into the Valley playdowns as the No. 2 seed.
“It’s a very competitive Valley championship this year,” said Fulton head coach Dale Olson. “We have a good chance of going through, but need to play well for all three games.
“The boys are playing well right now. We have jelled nicely as a team and are peaking at the perfect time.”
Seaton got to the Valleys with some unconscious three-point shooting from Matt MacEachran-Law in the third quarter and six points and several clutch free throws from Chris MacEachran Law in OT.
Matt nailed four treys in a row and finished with 19 points, while Chris had 20 points and Alex Baxter 19. Besim Maliqui drained a half-court prayer to spark a comeback in the third quarter.
“Paul Major, for us, had a great all-around game,” said Kal coach Rick Serafin. “Max Wilford, Steven Goebel, and Tysen Chippendale played well along with junior call-ups Lucas Ross, Chris Gallant and AJ Jjajj. Nathan Meyer, Nathan Christianson, and Robbie Graydon put in good efforts.”
The Valley final goes Saturday at 7:15 p.m.
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