Not much separates the No. 6 Westsyde Whundas of Kamloops and the No. 8 VSS Panthers in the provincial senior AA girls basletball poll.
Westsyde proved to be six points better for now after dispatching VSS 59-53 in the Panther PIT Classic Saturday night.
The Whundas went 3-0 in the eight-team, round-robin tournament. The Cats finished 2-1.
Down 41-23 at the half after a turnover-filled two quarters, the Cats settled down in the second half largely due to Mackenzie Horst’s dominance around both baskets as she was a force defensively and offensively.
“We were able to get the lead down to four late but missed a few opportunities to get it even,” said VSS coach Lonny Mazurek. “Coach (Dave Tetreault) T and I were pleased with the response in the second half after a brutal first half.”
The Pen-Hi Lakers stuffed the Holy Cross Crusaders of Surrey 67-53 to end up 3-0, while the fourth-rated Okanagan Mission Huskies of Kelowna slammed the Sa-Hali Sabres of Kamloops 80-37 to also finish 3-0.
The Sabres upended the Fulton Maroons 62-54 Saturday morning, while the Rutland Voodoos held off Fulton 47-43 in the final game of the tourney Saturday night.
The Fulton Maroons went 0-for-3 in the 36th annual Jasper Place Rebels senior boys invitational in Edmonton.
Fulton started the 12-team affair by falling 80-48 to the North Park Collegiate Trojans of Brantford, Ont. with Ike Olson dialing up a dozen points and 10 rebounds and Hunter Krieger supplying eight points and 10 boards.
Olson counted 16 points and 15 boards as Fulton lost 72-64 to the Bishop O’Leary Spartans of Edmonton. Krieger pocketed 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Austin Derkach provided 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Maroons then bowed 79-64 to the Kelowna Owls with Nate Banga sinking 18 points and Krieger producing a dozen points and 11 boards.
Pen-Hi Lakers of Penticton stopped the Maroons 57-42 in Saturday’s final of the Fulton junior girls home tournament.
Nya Derkach took Fulton tourney all-star honours with 20 points, 15 rebounds, five steals and four blocked shots in the final. Lily Lee supplied 13 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and blocks, while Jorja Catt and Nicole Bargaso combined for eight points and seven assists. Standout defensive players were Simran Bajwa, Roshauna Tomlinson and Grace Hunter.
The teams battled back and forth but Pen-Hi finished the half up 25-14.
In the second half, Fulton’s big players dominated the game and the Maroons clawed their way back within five points at 42-37. Fulton ran out of gas in the closing minutes after playing back to back games.
“I was very proud of how the girls performed at our home tournament,” said Fulton head coach Johnal Lee. “They have heart. I’m looking forward to January basketball; I know that they are getting better each game.”
Fulton opened with the Westsyde Whundas of Kamloops and built a 25-17 lead at the half and pulled away for a 41-28 win.
Derkach drained 13 pts and grabbed six rebounds with three blocks, while Lee canned a dozen points, five boards and two blocks and Catt collected six points to go with five assists and Simran Bajwa bagged four points. Jazlynn Bernakevitch was defensive player of the game.
Fulton ambushed the Kalamalka Lakers 50-18 earlier Saturday behind 15 poijnts and six rebounds from Lee.
Bajwa had a breakout game and swished her way to 14 points. Derkach and Catt chipped in eight points each. Bargaso, Hunter and Tomlinson had outstanding defensive showings.