Morning Star Staff
They lost starting point guard Anna Rice early, but the VSS Panthers held strong and dispatched the St. Michaels University School (SMU) Mustangs of Victoria 86-62 Wednesday at the Langley Events Centre.
The fifth-ranked Panthers met the No. 4 St. Thomas More Knights of Burnaby in B.C. Senior AA Girls Basketball Championships quarterfinal play Thursday night.
SMU came out and pressed but excellent execution on press break led to easy baskets and a 27-11 Vernon lead after one quarter.
“Our 48-33 rebounding advantage also played a role in our success as well,” said VSS head coach Lonny Mazurak. “Coach T (Dave Tetrault) and I were proud of the group’s resiliency after Anna went down. The group rallied together and kept the gritty Mustangs at bay.”
Game star Jordyn Cullum rang up 33 points and 10 rebounds, while Jessica Melvin recorded 10 points and seven rebounds. Megan Rouault also flushed 10 points, while Katie Macgivillray sank nine.
Rouault, Brianna Falk and Grade 9 Kelsey Falk put in extra minutes at the guard positions after Rice was hurt. Rice is doubtful for the rest of the Sweet 16.
St. Thomas More reached the quarters by grounding the 13th-rated Okanagan Mission Huskies of Kelowna 68-41,
Top-ranked Duchess Park Trojans of Prince George recorded the largest win of the day with a 104-23 ambush of the J.L. Crowe Hawks of Trail.
Defending champion Immaculata Mustangs of Kelowna rocked the Little Flower Academy Angels of Vancouver 98-44 to earn a quarterfinal spot against No. 9 GW Graham Eagles of Chilliwack, 85-64 winners over the eighth-ranked Pacific Christian Pacers of Victoria.
No. 6 Nechako Valley Viqueens of Vanderhoof iced the Ballenas Whalers of Parksville 82-65, while the third-ranked Seycove Seahawks of North Vancouver bounced the Caledonia Kermodes of Terrace 79-62 and No. 7 Holy Cross Crusaders stopped the Brittannia Bruins of Vancouver 72-60.
Meanwhile, both the AAA Panthers and AA Fulton Maroons failed to win provincial berths in weekend Valley playdowns.
VSS lost 69-65 to the Valleyview Vikings of Kamloops in the semifinals.
The Vikes led 30-17 at the break before the Cats made some adjustments and shrunk the lead to 11 by the third quarter.
Seth Blundell and Leon Schenker began to take over in the fourth, and with a minute to go, the Panthers were down by two with the ball.
“We worked the ball for a good shot which was Jakob Marshall with a shot jump shot for the tie,” said VSS head coach Glenn Garvie. “The shot was a bit long and on the rebound needing to stop the clock we fouled the Viking player and unfortunately for us, the free throws were made. Twice more, we made shots and fouled but Valleyview continued to make foul shots. It was a tough way for the Grade 12 boys to go out.”
Valleyview stuffed the Nor-Kam Saints by 13 in Saturday’s final.
The Panthers also lose Nathan Bain to graduation, but return everybody else next year.
Fulton lost 58-50 to the Sa-Hali Sabres and fell 62-48 to the Westsyde Whundas at the Valleys in Oliver.
Nate Banga canned 14 points against the Sabres, while Noah Alleyne pocketed a dozen. Ike Olson supplied nine rebounds.
Hunter Kreiger posted 12 points and Olson registered a dozen boards in Fulton’s loss to Westsyde.
“The boys played really hard and great defence all weekend, just couldn’t score,” said Fulton coach Dale Olson. “We really struggled offensively and that’s the age thing coming to haunt us. Overall a very good year and very proud of the progress our team made throughout the year.”
The Pleasant Valley Saints went 1-2 in Oliver, losing 67-38 in their opener against Summerland Rockets before slamming the Seaton Soncs 63-52 and falling 64-40 to Princess Margaret Mustangs of Penticton.
Quaid Lang averaged just under 12 points per game and Seth Gorde averaged just over 10 points per game for the Saints, who finished fifth.