The Fulton Maroons took the tourist route to the B.C. Senior AA Boys Basketball Championships.
Dale Olson’s crew brushed back the South Okanagan Hornets of Oliver 71-63 in Saturday night’s consolation final of the Valley playdowns at Fulton Secondary.
The Maroons grabbed the third berth in the provincials, slated for March 8-11 at the Langley Events Centre.
The Westsyde Whundas of Kamloops took the Valley banner by ambushing the George Elliot Coyotes of Lake Country 84-42 Saturday night. Both teams advance to the B.C.s.
The Coyotes surprised Fulton by four in the semifinals Friday night, forcing the Maroons to slide through the back door.
“It was a great Valley championships,” said Olson. “We came up a little short in the semis and that cost us our run at the championship. The boys played hard the whole weekend; we were a little under the weather but will be healed for provincials next week. Elliot had the game of their season to beat us, combined with us having a way below average shooting night. The atmosphere was electric in the gym all weekend. The stands were packed for every game and it was a great high school atmosphere.”
Valley MVP honours went to Nathan Strank of Westsyde, while tournament all-stars were Fynn McCarthy and Nic Lafontaine from Elliot, Nate Banga from Fulton, Manjot Dhaliwal of South Okanagan and Spencer Ledoux of Westsyde.
Banga went 17-for-21 from the charity stripe and finished with 30 points as Fulton stopped South Okanagan. Caden Doyle drained 10 points and Ike Olson added nine.
It was 51-50 Fulton before the Maroons reeled off 12 unanswered points to take command in the fourth quarter. Dilshan Gill canned seven shots from Fairview Mountain Golf Club and finished with 29 points for the Buzz, while Dhaliwal drained six treys and counted 19 points.
Ledoux flushed 26 points to lead Westsyde in the final. Scott Lemphers sank 13 points and Strank pocketed a dozen as the Whundas used a 25-point run to break away in the second quarter. The Coyotes got 27 points from McCarthy.
Fulton grounded the Sa-Hali Sabres of Kamloops 80-57, while South Okanagan upended the Princess Margaret Mustangs of Penticton 75-61 to reach the consolation game.
Doyle deposited 24 points for the Maroons, while Banga bagged 13 and Olson and Landon Currie each collected nine. Jarrett Larsen supplied 19 points for Sa-Hali.
Sahig Gill knocked in 20 points as the Hornets mauled the Mustangs, while Dilshan Gill hit 14 and Justin Dhillon garnered 13. Bryn Carter pulled down 21 points for Maggie.
Meanwhile, the No. 3-ranked VSS Panthers will open the B.C. Senior AA Girls Basketball Championships Wednesday in Langley versus the 14th ranked Charles Hays Hurricanes of Prince Rupert (3:30 p.m.).
The Panthers, coached by Lonny Mazurak and Dave Tetreault, with a win, would face the winner of No. 6 GW Graham Grizzlies of Chilliwack versus No. 11 Windsor Dukes of North Vancouver, in second-round play Thursday, 3:30.
The Seycove Seyhawks of North Vancouver are the top seed in the Sweet 16, followed by the Langley Christian Saints.
