The championship run of the Holy Cross Crusaders came to an end two games early.
The Surrey school fell 76-72 to the Lambrick Park Pride of Victoria in a semifinal game Friday night at the B.C. Senior AA girls high school basketball tournament in Kamloops.
The Crusaders battled from behind all night long, trailing 23-18, 43-38 and 58-54 at the quarter breaks. Down 71-69 with a little more than a minute to play, Amy Sprangers hit a three-point shot to put Holy Cross in front with just 23 seconds to go.
Lambrick Park answered with a trey of their own, then stole the ball and scored on a lay-up with six seconds to go to put the game out of reach.
Rachel Beauchamp was a standout for the third straight game for the Crusaders, scoring 20 points and adding 11 rebounds. Michelle Bos also tallied 20 points, with Michelle Zacharkuk adding 15, Alli Buck contributing 13 and Alysha Bennett netting 10.
The Crusaders will play the Vernon Panthers this afternoon at 4 p.m. in the third-place game.
