The VSS Panthers used the Charles Hayes Hurricanes of Prince Rupert to get their entire roster ready for the winner’s bracket of the Sweet 16.
Megan Rouault rang up 27 points and nine assists as the No. 3 Panthers ambushed the Hurricanes 98-31 Wednesday to open the B.C. Senior AA Girls Basketball Championships at the Langley Events Centre.
VSS go up against the 11th-ranked Windsor Dukes of North Vancouver in Thursday afternoon (3:30 p.m.) quarterfinal play. The Dukes grounded the sixth-seeded GW Graham Grizzlies of Chilliwack 58-50 in their opener.
After being down 4-2 in the opening minute, the Panthers went on a 29-0 run and cruised from there, coaches Lonny Mazurak and Dave Tetreault going to their bench before the half.
Mackenzie Horst drained 20 points, while Brianna Falk pocketed 22 points and 15 rebounds.
“Our role players had some great hustle stats this game as Emilia Durfeld had 15 rebounds and five steals, Maddy Smith five rebounds and four steals, Megan Wiebe 11 rebounds and Kelsey Watts six rebounds,” said Mazurek. “It was a great job by these players to get us extra possessions.”
VSS has not played Windsor this season.
“They (Dukes) have lots of size,” said Mazurak. “Their best players are 5-foot-9 point guard Devon Wood and 5-foot-10 swing Megan Legault who signed with UBC.”
The Cats will meet with their coaches before lunch today to watch game tape and discuss a game-plan before resting and doing homework just prior to tip-off.
Five of the eight top seeds were victorious Wednesday and went to the quarterfinals.
The top-rated Seycove Seyhawks of North Vancouver slammed No. 16 David Thompson Trojans of Invermere 64-12, while second-ranked Langley Christian Lightning upended No. 15 St. Michaels University School Mustangs of Victoria 61-33.
Seycove meet ninth-ranked Ballenas Whalers of Parksville, while the Bolts take on No. 10 Britannia Bruins of Vancouver in quarterfinal play.
Britannia bounced No. 7 Duchess Park Condors of Prince George 65-54, while Ballenas brushed back Okanagan Mission 65-53 in other round 1 games.
The closest tilt on opening day saw the No. 4 South Kam Titans hold off the No. 13 Southride Storm of Surrey 74-72. South Kam squared off against No. 5 Immaculata Mustangs of Kelowna in noon quarterfinal today. Immaculata stuffed the 12th-ranked College Heights Cougars of Prince George 83-63 Wednesday.
Meanwhile, VSS bowed 48-34 to Seycove and fell 32-26 to Duchess Park at the B.C. Junior Girls Championships in Langley.
Callie Bertram bagged seven points and Ashley Budgen counted six as the Cats lost to Duchess Park Thursday.
“We had a 10-point lead and then kind of hit a wall,” said VSS assistant coach Mike Sawka, helping Mike Bertram.
Sarah Crerar and Jessee Harman each filed seven points and Budgen hit six against Seycove, a top-10 entry headed to the semifinals. VSS plays the Mt. Baker Trojans of Cranbrook Friday morning.
At the Grade 8 girls and boys provincial finals in Pitt Meadows, the Seaton Sonics fell 44-22 in their girls opener Thursday morning against the W.A. Fraser Middle School Falcons of Abbotsford.
The Vernon Panthers take on the Surrey champion Tamanawis Wildcats in their first game Thursday afternoon.
