The Vernon Panthers and Kalamalka Lakers are through to the Okanagan Valley Senior AA Girls Basketball Championships, starting Thursday at George Elliot Secondary in Lake Country.
The teams earned that right by advancing to the North Zone final Saturday at the Panther Pit.
Vernon, ranked No. 10 in B.C., reached the championship game by brushing back the Pleasant Valley Sinners of Armstrong 75-26 in semifinal action Friday at VSS.
Megan Prentice paced the Cats with a career-high 20 points, while Ashtyn McKenzie added 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Jenna Marion also supplied a dozen points.
“We were really emphasizing on playing our pace and we did that the entire game,” said Bobby Mitchell, who co-coaches VSS with Lonny Mazurak. “We were able to maintain that intensity.”
The Lakers earned their way to the Zone final by grounding the Fulton Maroons 62-42 in the other Friday semi.
Ann Stewart, with 14 points, Jordan Korol, with 13, and Kaelyn Parmalee, with 10, were Kal’s top scorers.
In senior boys zone playoff action, the Panthers and Maroons tangled in Saturday’s championship final. Both teams advance to Valleys, which start Thursday at Kelowna Christian.
VSS shaded the Lakers 79-74 in semifinal play Friday. The Panthers held a halftime lead of 36-32 and were up 60-58 after three quarters.
Tyson Chippendale led the Laker assault with 21 points, Ajay Jhajj canned 10 points and a dozen rebounds, but fouled out in the third quarter. Tye Oddy chipped in with 10 points.
Fulton overwhelmed the Seaton Sonics 84-47 in their semifinal tilt Friday.
Mike Rouault dialed up 20 points for the Maroons, with Tye Kitzman adding 16 points and Riley Beauchamp draining a dozen. Kuup Peters had 14 points for the Sonics.
Working with a deeper bench, Fulton ran away with it late in the third quarter, boosted by some stellar perimeter shooting.
In the 4 versus 5 game Thursday at Seaton, the Sonics stuffed the PVSS Saints 83-49.
Leading 54-25 at halftime, the Sonics had a 16-point effort from Luke Harrigan, with Peters and Matt McEachran-Law balancing out the offence with 15 and 14 points respectively.
Seaton and Kal met in the third-place game Saturday.
