The Vernon Secondary Panthers settled for fifth place at the B.C. Junior Girls Championships last weekend in Abbotsford.
The Cats opened up an early 10-3 lead, but fell 68-49 to eventual-champion Brookswood Bobcats of Langley in the quarterfinals.
Ten different Panthers scored in this game, with game MVP Sage Blundell leading the way with 10 points. Karley Fugel, Mary Rice, Quinsy Leier and Jenna Marrion all had six.
The Cats then shaded the No. 5-ranked Holy Cross Crusaders of Surrey 42-40.
Leading by five at the end of three quarters, the Crusdaders extended their lead to nine with four minutes to go. VSS buckled down on defence, and Rice hit a big three to start the comeback.
Jenna Marrion had four steals in the last four minutes and added three backside rebounds. Game MVP Marrion had nine points and was solid on the boards. Rice had 11 points, Leier had 10 and Blundell fired seven.
“The girls showed great character to overcome poor shooting against such a strong team and come back to win,” said coach Mike Bertram.
The Panthers finished with a 46-38 win over the No. 6 W.J. Mouat Hawks of Abbotsford to earn fifth.
“We were in control of this game the whole time. We never trailed in the whole game and had double digit leads for most of it,” said Bertram, noting the Cats struggled from the charity stripe, shooting less than 50 per cent.
Game MVP Leier led the way with 19 points, Rice had 11, Blundell eight and Karly Fugel six. Leier was named a second team all star.
“Rice easily could have been there as well as she was the floor general in all games and ran the break like a pro,” said Bertram.
Other VSS players include: Madison Sawka, Avery Bridge, Jessica Harvey, Kate Baglot, Emily Pfannshmidt, Kate Moffat and manager Steph Mills.
“We had two goals for the provincials – finish higher than our No. 8 ranking and try to show that we deserved to be higher,” said Bertram. “We accomplished both of these through great defence, a good fast break, well-timed baskets and having fun.
“With our seniors finishing fourth and our juniors finishing fifth, we showed that we have one of… the best AA programs in the entire province.”
Meanwhile, the Grade 8 boys Panthers had a great experience at the provincials in Pitt Meadows, watching and competing against the best teams in the province.
After a humbling 62-22 loss to top-ranked Vancouver College Fighting Irish, the Panthers responded with three solid games, falling by 12 to the Prince Rupert Rainmakers and by seven to Mt. Prevost of Duncan.
They also lost a heartbreaker to the Sa-Hali Sabres of Kamloops, who hit all four of their foul shots in the dying seconds to win by two points.
The Panthers were led offensively by Zac Kronbauer, John Garvey, Ty Thomas and Spencer Shaw.
The Grade 8 team will continue their development this spring, joining a Vernon club team coached by Glenn Garvie. This team will play in the Kelowna Legends League this spring.
The Grade 8 girls Panthers went 1-3 at provincials in Pitt Meadows.
They played good defence but struggled to score. Mckenzie Kreeft was a game star.
