It was her only successful three-point shot of the evening.
And it put Emily Kanester into the UBC Okanagan Heat women’s basketball program’s record book.
Kanester, a fifth-year guard from Vernon Secondary became the all-time leading scorer in Heat history in a 71-63 home-court loss to Langley’s Trinity Western Spartans in November.
“At the time, I didn’t know the shot was the one that broke the record,” said Kanester, who is studying environmental science. “I wasn’t keeping track in my head. My teammates congratulated me and it was announced during the game.”
Kanester entered the game seven points shy of Roz Huber’s old mark of 901 career points. She finished the game with a team-leading 16 points, and broke the record with her parents, Clint and Kathy, and many friends and family in attendance at the UBCO Gym.
“It was nice to set the record at home with all of the support I had,” said Kanester, 23. “Trying to break the record was becoming a pain in the butt.”
Kanester began playing basketball at VSS in Grade 9 for coach Dave Tetrault, hanging up her hockey skates for high-top sneakers. She played two years with Coach T and the Junior Panthers, then moved up to the senior ranks where she played for Bobby Mitchell – now an assistant coach with the UBCO Heat – and Lonny Mazurak.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without those guys, and my coaches at UBCO,” said Kanester. “They all did a lot to make learn to love the game of basketball.”
Heat head coach Claire Meadows said in addition to being a talented player, the scoring record is a testament to Kanester’s character and work ethic.
“It’s an incredible accomplishment,” said Meadows. “Emily is one of the most determined and hard-working people in our program. She works tirelessly, and is just relentless out on the floor. She’s really earned it.
“I know this achievement means a lot to Emily and she should be very proud, but at the same time she wants to win and cares about the team. Her outstanding quality is that she is a very competitive person, she wants to win and is true team player.”
At the Christmas break, Kanester has 1,015 career points. The Heat are 2-8 in the CIS’ Canada West Conference. Kanester leads the Heat, averaging 13.6 points per game.
In the first game of his fifth and final Canada West season in Kelowna, Armstrong’s Mitch Goodwin established the new all-time points record for the Heat men’s program.
Goodwin scored 18 points to lead the Heat past the Trinity Western Spartans 87-71, and in the process surpassed Matt Gowing’s career-best mark of 1,028.
Coming into the Canada West season, Goodwin admits he wasn’t even aware he was close to setting the record.
Now that it’s official, the 22-year-old Human Kinetics student said he’s humbled by the milestone.
“It didn’t really hit me until the day after,” Goodwin said. “It’s nice to see that the years of hard work have paid off. Coming in to play here after a successful college program, to see my name up there with some of the top players in school history, it’s a pretty big honour.”
In 2012, Goodwin – who played his high school ball with the Kelowna Secondary Owls – opted to stay home and play basketball at UBC Okanagan rather than accept an offer from Blair Academy in New Jersey, a decision he said he hasn’t regretted for moment.
In addition to being around family and friends, and getting his education right at home, Goodwin said playing his entire university career for Heat head coach Pete Guarasci has been a big bonus.
“I’ve had a chance to learn from one of the most experienced coaches out there,” Goodwin said. “Pete Guarasci has experience as a national team player and he’s played in Europe, so he’s been around and knows a lot about the game. A lot of what I’ve been able to do is because of him.”
While Goodwin is both happy and humbled to own the all-time scoring record, , he doesn’t expect to hold it for long.
“It’s such a young program, a lot of great players will come through here so it won’t stand for long. It would be pretty cool to see someone on my team break it one day. (Teammate) Aldrich Berrios is one guy I could see doing it…that would be cool.”
Goodwin has 1,138 career points .at the Christmas break for the Heat, who are 1-9 in the Canada West.
—-with files from Warren Henderson, Kelowna Capital News