The Lake City Falcons senior girls basketball team is improving steadily as they prepare for February’s North Central Zone Championship.
That was evident to head coach Raj Lalli following the team’s home tournament Friday and Saturday at the Lake City Secondary School Williams Lake Campus.
The Falcons opened the tournament Friday versus Peter Skene Ogden of 100 Mile House, taking a 45 to 20 win.
Falcons’ forward Naomi Lomavatu led all scorers with 12 points, while guard Melanie Wintjes chipped in 10.
“Morgan Blois stepped into the point guard position as our starting point guard could not attend the tournament,” Lalli said.
“Morgan played strong defence and was key to moving the ball well on offence.”
Next, on Saturday morning, Lake City battled hard but came up on the wrong side of 45-34 contest versus Correlieu of Quesnel.
Wintjes racked up 11 points before leaving the game late in the fourth quarter with a sprained ankle, while Blois dropped eight.
In their final game of the tournament the Falcons, again, came up just shy of a victory, falling 46-40 to Kelly Road of Prince George.
Lalli said Kaitlyn Berkelaar earned herself MVP honours in the game.
“She played a tough game. Strong on defence and also scored eight points,” Lalli said. “She is improving with every game and is the only player who has been able to attend every tournament so far.”
Lomavatu, meanwhile, was strong for the Falcons all tournament.
“[She’s] an essential presence but was limited by her foul trouble against Correlieu,” Lalli said.
“Her rebounding, defence and scoring were important for us in order to be competitive against Kelly Road.”
Lalli added Lori Saunders, meanwhile, was productive off the bench, displaying defensive hustle, with six points against Kelly Road, and Lori Fontaine played a strong game versus Correlieu.
“We have three more tournaments leading up to the zone tournament in Fort St. John in February,” Lalli said.
“I’m hoping that we can have a consistent starting lineup going into zones. It’s been a struggle due to players’ working schedules, injuries and other commitments.”
