The Pen High Lakers never gave up in their 86-55 loss to the Kelowna Secondary Owls in the 4A Okanagan Valley Championship Friday at home.
The Lakers trailed 51-20 at half. The Owls generated several points from turnovers and were led by tournament most valuable player Mason Bourcier, who put up 26 points.
“He’s the team leader. He does what he does. He got people involved,” said Owls coach Harry Parmar.
Parmar said the Owls didn’t play their best basketball, but did enough to win and advance to the provincials where they look to defend their championship in Langley.
Lakers assistant coach Andrew Knudsen said they played well after battling the Owls in a 35-35 second half.
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“We had a rough first half, gave up a lot of turnovers. There’s a reason why they are up there with the best in the province,” said Knudsen of the No.2 ranked Owls. “They have a great press and that’s what they do. They cause turnovers.”
After playing a man-to-man defence, the Lakers switched to a 2-3 zone as Knudsen said that was used to clog up the middle and not allow the Owls open looks.
Jake Stokker, who led the Lakers with 23 points and was named to the all-star team, said even though their shots didn’t fall, he felt the team gave everything.
“At the end especially. It’s kind of all you can ask for,” said Stokker. “As soon as their bench came on, we managed to take advantage of it. Kind of beat them up a bit.”
Monty Tebbutt scored 12 for the Lakers and was also named to the all-start team, which included Sterling Peterson of the Mt. Boucherie Bears as well as Matt Williamson and Owen Keyes of the Owls.
