ore than 70 high school hoopsters played in four all-star basketball games at the UBC Okanagan campus gym on Saturday, highlighting the best talent in the Okanagan Valley. Junior and senior teams for both girls and boys showcased their skill as the Okanagan’s best drew spectators from around the valley to support the sixth annual event.
The following is a summary of the four games:
• Junior girls
Both teams had a pair of players score double-digits, but it was coach Kirsten Mulleny’s team wearing the dark jerseys that finished on top 61-46. Ashlyn Day, of the provincial champion Immaculata Mustangs, was player of the game for the winners, and led all scorers with 14 points.
Vernon Secondary’s Jordyn Cullum equalled Day’s 14 points to earn the player of the game for the Light team, coached by Bobby Mitchell, assistant coach for the UBC Okanagan Heat women’s basketball team.
Claire Demug of Kelowna Secondary was the other double-digit scorer for the Dark squad with 11 points, while KLO’s Jayne Reid finished with an even dozen.
• Junior Boys
Nearly leading from start to finish UBC Okanagan men’s basketball graduating player, Landry Ndayitwayeko, coached his team in Dark jerseys to a nine point victory over his former backcourt mate, Heat guard Mitch Goodwin’s Light Jersey team, 57-48.
OKM’s Grant Sheppard was the Dark team’s Player of the Game with a game-high 16 points. Kelowna Secondary’s sharp-shooting guard Matt Lafontaine finished with 13 and Owen Keys from Dr. Knox netted nine points.
The Light team made a run in the third quarter—drawing even at 32—which was sparked by the effort of Mitchel Mathison from Brocklehurst. For his efforts he was awarded Light team player of the game, he finished with four points as no one player lit up the score sheet for the Light squad, Cruz Anderson from Kelowna Christian and Mason Bourcier from Dr. Knox both finished with eight points.
• Senior girls
In a high scoring battle it was the Dino Gino coached team in Dark jerseys that ran past Lisa Nevoral’s Light jersey crew, 88-77 in the senior girls’ game.
Emma Piggin netted a game high 23 points as the South Kamloops senior guard led her team to victory earning herself the Dark team’s player of the game. Immaculata’s Emma Johnson tallied 16 points with Kelowna Secondary’s Hannah Friesen netting 12 of her own. Jordan Korol (Vernon Secondary) and Jacquie Sellers (Kelowna Christian) poured in 10 each for the Dark side.
Finishing with 15 points was Megan Admussen-Blair from Penticton’s Princess Margaret Secondary; her heads up play earned her the Light team’s player of the game, while South Kamloops’ Kanesha Reeves led the Light squad with 17 points, including four from beyond the arc. Three others from the Light team finished with double-digit points: Charlotte Lewthwaite (Kelowna Secondary) and Karley Fugel (Vernon Secondary) each with 12, and Immaculata’s Jaedyn Penkala scored 10.
• Senior boys
In true All-Star game form the defense was left at the door, as Dino Gini, performing double coaching duties, coaxed a win out of his senior team in the Light jerseys, 105-82, as Glen Garvie’s team in the Dark jerseys fell in the final game of the day.
Scoring 29 points to lead all scorers on Saturday was Joe Davis from Westsyde Secondary earning him player of the game for the Light squad. Teammates Michael Rouault (Clarence Fulton) and John Garvie (Vernon Secondary) dropped 19 and 18 points, respectively, in the effort alongside Davis, Valleyview’s Leighton Demidoff finished with 16 for a balanced attack.
Finishing with 15 points, nine in the fourth quarter alone, OKM’s Evan Yarrow was tabbed the player of the game for the Dark team. Also with 15 was South Kam’s Reid Sellers while Mount Boucherie’s Quincy Johnson added 14 and Princess Margret’s Jas Sihota’s chipped in 12 points in the loss for the Dark team.
