The VSS Panthers punched their ticket to the provincials in Langley for the 14th consecutive year by slamming the Sa-Hali Sabres of Kamloops 75-28 Saturday in the Okanagan Valley Senior AA Girls Basketball Championships in Penticton.
Kelsey Falk pocketed 27 points for the Panthers, while Mackenzie Horst and Callie Bertram each knocked in 16. The top-four teams from the Valleys move to the B.C. Sweet 16, Feb. 28-March 3, at the Langley Events Centre.
“Our guard play was very good this morning as Emilia Durfeld, Callie Bertram, Sarah Crerar, Olivia Sawka and Kelsey Watts did a great job taking care of the ball and executing on offence and minimizing dribble penetration on defence,” said VSS head coach Lonny Mazurak, who is assisted by Dave Tetreault.
VSS will be the No. 3 seed from the Okanagan at the provincials after finishing the Valleys in third place with a 72-46 win over the Westsyde Whundas of Kamloops.
““It was a good win for us as we had lost to them three times this year,” said Mazurak. Kelsey Falk had 25 points to lead VSS, Mackenzie Horst added 18 points and Durfeld drained 11.
The Fulton Maroons went 0-2, losing to Westsyde and Sa-Hali.
The Okanagan Valley AA Boys championship begins Thursday at Westsyde with the Fulton Maroons, Seaton Sonics and Pleasant Valley Saints of Armstrong looking to advance to the provincials in Langley March 7-10.
The Maroons meet the Saints in the opening round, while the Sonics take on the George Elliot Coyotes of Lake Country.
Top two teams in the seven-team field advance to the provincials while the consolation side winner will travel south to face the No. 3 seed from Vancouver Island in a challenge game for a berth in Langley.
The Valley 3A boys finals are at VSS this weekend. Glenn Garvie’s Panthers take on the Okanagan Mission Huskies of Kelowna Friday at 6 p.m., followed by the South Kamloops Titans taking on the Valleyview Vikings in an all-Kamloops tilt at 8 p.m.
The two winners meet in the championship game Saturday at 7 p.m.