The Fulton Maroons will host the Okanagan Valley Senior AA Boys Basketball Championships next week.
The Maroons grounded the visiting Seaton Sonics 85-33 Wednesday night in the North Zone final.
Ike Olson pocketed 21 points and 16 rebounds for the Maroons, who went to their bench after building a 52-16 halftime lead.
Caden Doyle dialed 14 points for Fulton, while Nathan Banga supplied 13 points and eight assists and Hunter Krieger sank a dozen points. Quaine Parker produced nine points, while Mitch Alexander added eight for the Sonics.
Stephane Foster, Satchel McDermid, Noah Lee and Alan Bargaso all came off the Fulton bench and delivered treys in the fourth quarter.
Fulton reached the final by ambushing the Kalamalka Lakers 99-42 Tuesday night with Banga draining 27 points and Olson flushing 19. Cole Hunter hit a dozen and Krieger netted 11.
Jared Bobryk and Wyatt Carter, with nine apiece, and Carter Bosquet, with eight, answered for the Lakers.
Parker collected 27 points and Kaiden Parton provided 20 as Seaton upended the Pleasant Valley Saints of Armstrong 92-49 Tuesday night. Gavin Huggins recorded 15 points, while Kailar Preskar scored 12 to help the Sonics.
Seth Gordey counted 15 points, while Kyle Tyler fashioned 13 for the Saints, who parlayed 23 points from Stefan Wells into an 82-60 win over Kal Tuesday.
Tyler fired 17 points, while Gordey added 16. Bosquet bagged 23 points for the Lakers, while Carter sank 14 and Bobyrk deposited 11.
Seaton and PVSS also advance to the Valleys which start Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, the VSS Panthers went into the Valley Senior AA Girls playdowns Thursday at Okanagan Mission as the North Zone winners.
VSS cruised through the Zones by flooring Fulton 96-10 in the final and dispatching Pleasant Valley 92-13 in their opening semifinal.
Brianna Falk flushed 32 points, while Megan Rouault added 24 as the Cats stopped Fulton.
Kelsey Falk knocked in 24 points in Fulton’s win over PVSS. Mackenzie Horst sank 18 points and Megan Wiebe added 11 pts. Five players hit double-digits as the Panthers welcomed back Maddy Smith from injured reserve.
”Having Maddy and Emilia Durfeld in the lineup will beef up the defence and help us win more of the hustle plays we talk about prior to each game,” said VSS head coach Lonny Mazurak. “(Dave Tetreault) Coach T was real happy with the defence in preparation for a tough valley championship featuring four of the top-six provincially-ranked teams.”
VSS faced the NorKam Saints Thursday night, while Fulton took on the South Kam Titans.
The VSS junior girls won the North Zone banner for the third straight year by bouncing the Charles Bloom Timberwolves 49-36 in the final.
The Cats had 10 of their 11 players hit the scoresheet, led by Jessee Harman, with 11 points, and Ashley Budgen and Sarah Crerar counting eight apiece and Olivia Sawka scoring five. Callie Bertram returned from a long spell on IR and offered VSS more depth at the ball-handling position, while Kaylee Goodrich and Gabbi Boyd hit big shots in the fourth quarter.
“Bloom is a big team that plays zone defence and forces you to beat them with shooting; they rebound well out of their zone and run the floor,” said VSS head coach Mike Bertram. “We were able to get some points in bunches off of our presses which allowed us to roll our lines and get everyone playing time.”
Kelsey Watts drained 16 points and Crerar collected 13 as the Cats smothered Seaton 60-23 in the semis. Abby Williamson hit seven points and Stephanie Cardenas added six. Megan Claeys went 4-for-4 from the charity line in the first quarter to jumpstart the offence.
“This is the third undefeated North Zone league and playoffs for our Grade 10s and second for our Grade 9s which shows the depth of our program and the work the girls do in the off season,” added coach Bertram. “Both Bloom and VSS are off to the Valley championships this weekend at OKM.”
The undefeated city league champion Seaton Sonics capped their regular Grade 8 girls season with a tournament victory in Kamloops.
After defeating the tournament hosts St. Ann’s Academy Crusaders 40-17, Seaton bounced Brocklehurst Broncos of Kamloops 36-16 and the South Kam Titans 25-18. MVPs were Madison Gardiner for strong defensive play, Iseult Colclough for steals and points, and Nyla Wilford for bringing her A game and sinking the clinching basket in the final.
“The girls played incredibly hard against very tough competitors. I am especially proud of how they worked together as a team and didn’t let injuries slow them down,” said Seaton coach Chris Colclough.