North Shore girls teams battled all over the province over the past few weeks in B.C. high school basketball championships with a couple of teams scrapping onto the podium.
At the senior girls level the only North Shore squad to grab a medal was the Mulgrave Titans at the A provincials held in Lumby.
The top-seeded Titans won their first three contests to make the final, including a 64-44 semifinal victory over the Similkameen Sparks that included a near triple-double from Anniqa Karmali who scored 27 points, including five three pointers, to go with 11 rebounds and nine steals.
In the championship game the Titans took on the second-ranked Langley Christian Lightning in a back-and-forth battle that ended as a 78-63 win for the Lightning. The Titans held a 38-36 lead at halftime but Langley used their superior size - the Lightning lineup featured three six-footers while Mulgrave's tallest topped out at 5-10 - to pull away in the fourth quarter. The free throw line helped tell the story as Langley got 36 trips to the line while Mulgrave took only 16 freebies.
Emme Lee scored 16 points with three rebounds and one steal to earn Player of the Game honours for the Titans while graduating senior Christina Catliff also had a monster game, scoring 17 points with 15 rebounds and six steals in her last game as a Titan.
"We didn't win gold but it was one heck of journey that both the girls and I will never forget," Mulgrave head coach Claude Leduc told the North Shore News. "We are happy with our silver medals. Our returning players — including three of our starters — are looking forward to another shot at gold next year."
Catliff was named the tournament's Top Defensive Player while Grade 11 stars Karmali and Lee were both picked as first-team all-stars.
The rest of senior girls action was under one roof at the Langley Events Centre. At the senior AA level two North Shore schools took part with Seycove scoring a sixth place finish and St. Thomas Aquinas close behind in eighth place. Sixth-ranked Seycove knocked off Southridge 75-60 in their opener but fell 73-63 to No. 3 St. Thomas More in the quarterfinals. The Seyhawks then split a pair of matches against Ballenas and Duchess Park to settle into sixth and match their pre-tournament ranking. Seycove's Sage Stobbart averaged 19 points and 9.8 rebounds per game through the four contests while Claudia Hart put in 16.8 points per game. Both were named second-team all-stars. Meanwhile STA, ranked 13th, scored the tournament's biggest upset, knocking off fourth-ranked Holy Cross 67-63 in the opening round. The Fighting Saints couldn't keep the magic rolling the rest of the way, however, losing to Little Flower Academy, Duchess Park, and Ballenas to finish eighth. STA's Siearra Scheffer was an all-star honourable mention, averaging 17.8 points per game.
At the senior AAA level Handsworth was the North Shore's lone representative and finished ninth.
The sixth-ranked Royals were upset by No. 11 Charles Best 62-50 in their opening game but rebounded to score wins over Burnaby Mountain, Fleetwood Park and Maple Ridge to win the consolation side of the bracket. Grade 12 guard Allana Martin was one of five players to receive a Telus scholarship at the tournament.
Seycove was the lone North Shore representative at the junior girls provincial championships and the team finished 10th. Kayla Krug was named a second-team all-star.
At the Grade 9 provincial championship the Carson Graham Eagles finished second behind the Immaculata Mustangs. Carson's Tanis Metcalfe and Alex Walker were named first-team all-stars while Chloe Brebner made the second team. Argyle and Handsworth also took part in the tournament, finishing ninth and 10th.
At the Grade 8 provincial invitational championships Seycove and St. Thomas Aquinas met in the fifth-place game with the Seyhawks scoring a 32-28 win.
