The Fulton Maroons advanced to the gold-medal game of the 13th annual Maroon Corporate Classic senior boys basketball tournament Saturday at Fulton gym.
Despite falling 77-54 to the L.V. Rogers Bombers of Nelson in their final round-robin game Friday night, the Maroons topped their pool to set up a Saturday showdown with the Duchess Park Condors of Prince George.
The Westsyde Whundas of Kamloops and Princess Margaret Mustangs of Penticton met in the bronze-medal game.
Austin Richardson led Fulton’s offence with 14 points in the loss to the Bombers, who got 13 points apiece from Isaiah Kingoon and Matt Zukowski.
In their Friday afternoon tilt against the Sa-Hali Sabres of Kamloops, Fulton used 21 points each from Michael Rouault and Clayton Mottus to earn a 63-58 decision. Mottus dialed up six three-pointers.
Fulton opened the eight-team tourney Thursday with a 60-50 win over Maggie.
Rouault paced the Maroons with a game-high 16 points, while Tye Kitzman and Clark Richards supplied 12 and 11 respectively. The Cantelon boys shone for the Mustangs, with Justin recording 14 points and Jarret adding a dozen.
In other consolation play Saturday, Sa-Hali battled the South Okanagan Hornets of Oliver for fifth place, and the Bombers and Pen-Hi Lakers tangled for seventh.
Meanwhile, the Vernon Panthers split their opening games at a senior girls tourney hosted by Sa-Hali in Kamloops, starting with a 70-48 win over the College Heights Cougars of Prince George.
“The score does not reflect how close the game was – College Heights took a 17-point lead in the first quarter and led 34-33 at the break,” said VSS co-coach Bobby Mitchell.
“We got ourselves focused for the second half and held them to 14 points, but we can’t be happy with these poor starts. This was the fourth game in row we trailed early and this is a bad habit we can’t keep repeating.”
Karley Fugel topped all scorers with 19 points and 15 rebounds, Sage Blundell canned 16 points and Ashtyn McKenzie had 15 points and 13 boards.
The No. 3 ranked Cats trailed again early against the No. 8 G.W. Graham Grizzlies of Chilliwack, but couldn’t recover this time, falling 62-56.
McKenzie drained 13 points and 10 rebounds for VSS, while Megan Prentice had eight points, and Mary Rice and Fugel each added seven points,
The Charles Bloom Timberwolves thumped the Valleyview Vikings of Kamloops 40-18 to start their junior girls tournament Friday in Lumby.
Brianne Robertson earned Game MVP for her intensity and ability to cause turnovers. Amy Verhage was dominant on rebounds and scored 16 points. Strong defence from Vicky Grahn and Abby Lagerquist limited Valleyview’s offence.
In other Bloom tourney action, the George Elliot Coyotes of Winfield slammed the Barriere Cougars 72-22, and the Seaton Sonics outlasted the Merritt Panthers 32-29.
