The best high school basketball talent in the valley took to the hardwood Friday night at UBC Okanagan for the 7th annual Okanagan High School All-Star Game.
Just shy of 80 high school hoopsters participated in the four all-star games in the junior and senior levels in both girls and boys in front of a large group of parents, family, friends, and interesting onlookers. The games were officiated by valley referees who donated their time to showcase the event.
• Junior girls
Although the game was comprised of mostly Grade 10 basketball players it was two Grade nines that led their teams in scoring. MacKenzie Horst from Immaculata led her team wearing the dark jerseys with 14 points while Desiree Day, from KLO, was named Player of the Game and finished with 20 points to lead her team coached by Jody Vesper to the win.
Scoring six of her 10 points in the fourth quarter was Darian Mahmi, the OKM junior was the only other player to score double digits in an even All-Star game.
• Junior boys
A rematch of coaches from last year in the junior boys game as once again it was UBC Okanagan men’s former basketball graduating player and current assistant coach, Landry Ndayitwayeko, versus Mitch Goodwin, a junior guard on the Heat men’s club, manning the benches of the dark jersey team the light jersey team respectively.
This year Goodwin got the best of Ndayitwayeko as his team in Light jerseys scored 13 unanswered to turn a 57-57 draw into a 70-57 victory.
KSS’s Grant Shephard was the Dark team’s leading scorer with a game-high 22 points. However it was Kelowna Secondary’s playmaking guard Mason Bourcier who earned Player of the Game honours.
Bourcier finished with four points in distributing the ball amonst his teammaates in guiding the light jersey team to victory. Devin Halcrow (NorKam) 13 points, Owen Keys (KSS) 12 points, Nick Smith (OKM) 12 points, and Cruz Anderson (KCS) with 10 poibnts all scored in double-digits.
• Senior girls
Incoming Heat guard Emma Johnson from the B.C. AA provincial champion Immaculata Mustangs finished with a game high 17 points to earn Player of the Game honours. It wasn’t enough, however, as the Dark jersey squad stole the game in the final minutes to win by five points (67-62).
Andrew Gini the head coach of the Immaculata’s senior girls team this year handled the whiteboard duties for the dark team and rode Pen Hi’s Natasha Reimer’s team high 14 points—all in the second half—to the comeback win.
South Kam’s Liz Anderson hit four threes for all 12 of her points to lead coach Roz Huber’s light squad.
• Senior boys
Mount Boucheries’ Kache Kopec earned the Player of the Game as the athletic guard from Mount Boucherie scored 14 of his game high 22 points in the second half to push his dark jersey squad to an 88-81 victory to close out the night.
George Elliot’s Michael Burnham carried the dark team in the first half, he scored 14 on the night, second most on the squad but he had 10 in the first two quarters. The dark jersey squad was coached by Vernon’s Glenn Garvie.
Dino Gini, fresh off his guiding his Immaculata boys squad to a provincial silver medal, coached the light jersey team. Evan Cave from Nor Kam finished with 16 points and Michael Gini with 15 topped the scoreres for Dino’s squad.
Clarence Fulton’s Brandon Isaac chipped in with 12 points in a losing cause.
