The transition to the AA level in senior boys basketball has so far been a pretty smooth one for the Kelowna Christian Knights.
KCS captured the Okanagan Valley AA title on its first try last weekend in Kelowna, defeating South Okanagan Secondary 96-82 in the final.
Drew Schulz scored 25 points and added six rebounds in the win, while Ryan Linttell added 18 points.
The Knights opened the tournament with a 106-57 victory over Valleyview. Linttell had 30 points and 11 rebounds.
In Game 2, KCS beat Kamloops Westsyde 81-47. Linttell and Daniel Seinen scored 12 points apiece.
Drew Schulz was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Linttell and Jordan Hass were each named first team all-stars.
The Knights had won the Okanagan Valley A boys title four of the last five years before shifting to the new designation this year.
KCS will be in Kamloops next week for the B.C. boys AA basketball championship.
Immaculata girls capture valley title
The host and top-ranked Immaculata Mustangs posted a 3-0 record last weekend en route to capturing the Okanagan Valley A girls basketball title for 2013.
In the final, the Mustangs downed the No. 2 seeded team from Princeton 72-48.
Jaedyn Penkala led the winners with 23 points, while Siobhan Fitzpatrick added 13.
The Mustangs opened the weekend with a 101-12 victory over A.L. Fortune, then defeated Keremeos 72-35.
Olivia Johnson of the Mustangs was named the tournament’s MVP.
Coach Dino Gini prepared the team for the valleys and left assistant coaches Brian Grant, Leah Kouwenhoven and former Mustang player assistant coach Katie Van de Sype (Woodman) to guide the ship.
“This has been a fun ride thus far, this is one of the deepest teams I have had at the senior girls level,” said Gini. “We are 12 deep, we go 10 deep most games, we have a talented young group of grade 10’s that have stepped up and have improved a ton, we have six Grade 12s that have set a goal to bring the blue banner home and are just fantastic leaders.”
Immaculata will represent the Okanagan next week at the B.C. A girls basketball championship in Prince George.
Mustangs boys
The Immaculata Mustangs took second place at the Okanagan Valley A boys’ basketball tournament in Keremeos.
In the final, the Mustangs battled hard before losing 73-60 to No. 1 ranked Keremeos.
Alex Hart, who was forced to sit out the third quarter due to foul trouble, led Immaculata with 37 points, while Chris Maccdonell had 11.
In the opener, Hart had an eye-popping 71 points in a 131-20 win over Eagle River.
In their second game, the Mustangs defeated St. Ann’s 82-73.
“It was a great weekend,” said Mustangs coach Dino Gini. “I am very proud of the boys we battled through some tough situations, but we played our hearts out and over all we played solid basketball. I am hoping we are peaking at the right time.”
The Mustangs will be the fifth seed at next week’s provincial A boys championship at University of Fraser Valley.
