Morning Star Staff
It only took two games for the VSS Panthers to better last year’s record at the annual Tessa’s Tournament at Holy Cross Secondary in Surrey.
Lonny Mazurak’s bunch bounced the host Crusaders 74-51 and ambushed the Fleetwood Park Dragons of Surrey 81-36 in Friday games at the senior girls basketball extravaganza. The Cats went 1-2 in the 2015 tourney.
There are 30 teams (senior/junior/Grade 8) in the round-robin tournament established to honour the Tessa Beauchamp Foundation. Beachcamp played high school hoops at Holy Cross, and was a member of several provincial teams. She died in January, 2102 after a lengthy battle with cancer.
The foundation delivers several scholarships and funds mission trips to help those “facing educational and financial hardships.”
“With Jordyn Cullum in foul trouble in the second quarter (vs No. 10 AA Holy Cross), Katie Macgillivray and Jessica Melvin gave us great minutes off the bench,” said Mazurak. “We sealed the deal in the third quarter when seven of our eight players all scored. Our strong defence and excellent rebounding led to transition opportunities. Game star Brianna Falk was outstanding at both ends of the floor.”
Falk flushed 21 points, while Megan Rouault rang up 14. The Cats are rated No. 6 in AA.
VSS led from start to finish against Fleetwood with game star Cullum canning 21 points, Anna Rice sinking 18 and Rouault supplying 15.
The Panthers were scheduled to battle the No. 15 AAA Handsworth Royals of North Vancouver in Saturday action.
The Valleyview Vikings outlasted the VSS Panthers 56-51 in North Zone Senior AAA Boys Basketball League action Wednesday night.
VSS took an early lead and led after the first quarter at the Panther Pit. Valleyview led by four at the half.
“We had a couple of boys sick so the starters played the entire game,” said VSS coach Glenn Garvie. “Valleyview substituted early and often but we came back from nine down in the fourth quarter to pull even at 51-51 with a minute to go. “
Valleyview sank a trey and two foul shots in the final seconds.
Seth Blundell drained 18 points for the Panthers, while Jakob Marshall netted 13 and Ben Hladik recorded a dozen points and 17 boards.