Losing to Vernon’s Fulton Secondary 49-43 in the final game of their Mustang Mania tournament left the senior girls basketball team disappointed.
The Mustangs lost two of three games during the weekend and coach Dave Killick said they did not handle Fulton’s pressure well.
“We were pleased with our first two games and it was nice to beat Grand Forks (61-29) after losing to them last week,” said Killick, whose team opened with a 73-42 loss to the Okanagan Mission Huskies.
Killick said their goal is to improve each week. Their offence continues to improve both as a team and as individuals, as does their level of competing and defence.
“Any time you play in competitive games you will improve,” he said. “We are hoping that by playing a tough schedule we will be better able to handle the pressures of the playoffs when we get there. We have our last league game in Oliver Wednesday and play Summerland in the playoffs next Monday.”
Senior boys
Princess Margaret Mustangs senior boys basketball team clinched second place in the Okanagan South Central League with a 7-1 mark. Coach Russ Reid said he was pleased with how the regular season concluded.
“We have been a consistently competitive team throughout the course of the season,” said Reid. “We recently finished second in the Armstrong tournament and have won six consecutive league games to finish 7-1 and 16-7 overall.”
The Mustangs believe they have a system in place on and defense that will allow them to compete in the zone and valley playoffs. Players have made personal sacrifices (both on and off the court) throughout the season for the betterment of the team, said Reid.
On Wednesday, the Mustangs host Okanagan Mission in a semifinal playoff game.
“We need to create turnovers on the defensive end, limit second chance opportunities and knock down shots when we set up in the offensive zone,” he said. “I would say those are keys moving forward into playoffs against any team.”
Should the Mustangs win, they travel to Oliver for the zone championship.
Reid said the valley is wide open with two provincial berths. Of the top six teams, each team has earned splits.
“It is about peaking at the right time,” said Reid.
The Mustangs game against Okanagan Mission is at Princess Margaret School at 5 p.m.
Junior girls
The Mustangs finished seventh at the 16-team Immaculata tournament. The Mustangs downed Similkameen Secondary 48-35 in the seventh/eight-place game.
They started by defeating Heritage Christian 54-28, lost to Abbotsford Christian 46-35 and Mt. Boucherie 31-29. Player of the game awards went to Callan Cooper, Taylor Corrie, Shaya Hearne and Maddie Winter for their outstanding play. As well, Corrie, Winter and Kenzie Haberstock represented the team in the shooting contest. The Mustangs conclude South Zone league play this week with games versus Oliver, the Pen High Grade 9 team and Pen High juniors.
