They finished higher than they were ranked.
The Kalamalka Lakers of Coldstream and Vernon Panthers both won their final games of the year at their respective provincial senior girls basketball championships in Langley.
2A
The Lakers, seeded sixth, ended up fifth with a 3-1 record.
Johnal Lee’s squad dropped its tournament opener before rattling off three straight wins to end the year and finish in fifth place at the Sweet 16 finals.
The Lakers downed the Notre Dame Jugglers of Vancouver 85-74 in their final contest (no boxscore available on website).
Kal advanced to the fifth-place game with a 51-42 victory over Surrey’s Southridge Storm Friday.
Kristen Francks led the Lakers with 18 points. Brooklyn Lewis added 13 points and Lily Lee chipped in 11.
The top two teams pre-tournament met in the championship game, with the No. 1-seeded Langley Christian Lightning defeating the Mulgrave Titans of West Vancouver, ranked second, 70-60.
3A
The Panthers finished seventh out of 16, winning their final contest, 47-35, over Okanagan rivals Valleyview Viqueens of Kamloops (boxscore not posted on website).
Vernon, seeded 10th heading into provincials, was coming off a 67-38 defeat at the hands of the Sa-Hali Sabres of Kamloops. Maddy Hackman led the Panthers with 10 points. Dennica Paull had six for VSS, which was playing in the provincial tournament for a 17th consecutive year.
The fourth-ranked R.A. McMath Bobcats of Richmond won the provincial title, downing the third-seeded MEI Eagles of Clearbrook 51-46.
Grade 8
The Vernon Panthers’ boys and girls teams both went 1-3 and finished in 14th place at their provincial championships hosted by MEI.
The girls started off with a crushing 39-37 loss to the Crofton House Falcons of Vancouver, then fell 34-25 to the South Delta Sun Devils. Vernon got into the win column in its third game, defeating Vancouver Tech Talismen 45-26, before dropping its final contest, 48-30, to Howe Middle School Bulldogs of Abbotsford.
It was an identical scoreboard for the Panther boys. They opened with a 51-36 defeat at the hands of the Enver Creek Cougars of Surrey, then fell 62-53 to the MEI Eagles.
Vernon’s lone win came in Game 3, a 54-41 romp over the Dover Bay Dolphins of Nanaimo. The Cats finished the event with a 68-37 loss to the Mt. Slesse Middle School Timberwolves of Chilliwack.