Abbey Hughes hit for 16 points as the host Fulton Maroons mauled the Pleasant Valley Saints 49-26 in North Zone Senior AA Girls Basketball League play Wednesday night.
Allison Hobkirk drained a dozen points for Fulton, while Mackenzie Morin and Ashton Abramenko each canned eight points.
The Maroons will be the No. 2 seed and the VSS Panthers No. 1 in next week’s playoffs. starting Friday. The final goes Saturday night at VSS. The top-two finishers advance to the Okanagan Valley playdowns, Feb. 15-17.
The Maroons are coached by Fulton grad Jessica Kirkland and Lynda Zuber, an Oregon Ducks’ fan and Las Vegas transplant.
The coaches honoured their seniors with bouquets of flowers Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, Fulton ambushed Pleasant Valley 77-43 in North Zone Senior AA Boys League play Tuesday night.
Ike Olson collected 14 points, six steals and six rebounds for the Maroons, while Nate Banga supplied a dozen points and seven steals and Caden Doyle also pulled down 12 points.
Fulton hosts the Okanagan Mission Huskies of Kelowna Friday at 7 p.m. The Maroons urge all former players and fans to their annual pub night Saturday, Feb. 17 from 4:30-8:30 at the Longhorn Pub.
“Tickets are $15 and that gets you a burger and fries or salad and a pint or glass of wine,” said Olson. “There will be lots of draws and silent auction items. It should be a lot of fun.”
Call Olson at 250-550-4105 for tickets.
The VSS Panthers went 2-1 at the Pen-Hi Lakers Tournament last weekend, opening with a 78-31 stuffing of the Delta Pacers.
“The girls had an offensive explosion triggered by some pressure defence,” said VSS coach Lonny Mazurak. “It was nice to make shots as we have been struggling to do so consistently this season. “
Kelsey Falk flushed 23 points for the Cats, while Mackenzie Horst added 19.
The Panthers then brushed back the Smithers Griffins 57-48 with Falk canning 21 points and Horst 18.
“A gritty Smithers team gave us all we could handle but mixing up the defences down the stretch and some tough baskets down low by Mackenzie Horst were keys to the victory,” said Mazurak.
The No 6-ranked AAA Riverside Rapids of Coquitlam bounced the Panthers 61-49 with Falk ringing up 19 points, Horst getting 15 and Sarah Crerar earning seven.
“After a slow start, the girls pushed into the lead by the third quarter but some untimely turnovers and blown coverages on their shooters allowed Riverside to surge into the lead which they held on to. Twenty per cent from the free throw line also hurt our chances of winning.”
The Seaton 27th Street Invitational Junior Boys tournament features four schools with the South Kam Titans going up against the George Elliot Coyotes of Lake Country today at 6 p.m.
The Sonics battle the Sa-Hali Sabres of Kamloops tonight at 7:30. The Sonics play South Kam (10 a.m.) and Elliot (4:30) Saturday.