Morning Star Staff
The VSS Panthers needed two wins Saturday to grab the third Okanagan Valley berth in the B.C. Senior AA Girls Basketball Championships.
The Panthers lost 64-50 to the Princess Margaret Mustangs of Penticton, while the top-ranked Immaculata Mustangs grounded the Okanagan Mission Huskies 74-44 in North Zone semifinal action Friday night at VSS.
“We only scored 19 pts in the second half,” said VSS coach Lonny Mazurak. ‘‘They were the better team today.”
The provincials go March 4-7 at the Langley Events Centre.
Immaculata, of Kelowna, took on Maggie in Saturday night’s final with both teams guaranteed spots in the B.C. tournament.
In other Friday action, the Fulton Maroons mauled the Sa-Hali Sabres of Kamloops 71-59, while the Westsyde Whundas brushed off the Valleyview Vikings 43-41 in an all-Kamloops tilt.
In Thursday opening-round play, the Panthers grounded the Vikings 76-41, using a 15-0 third-quarter run to seal things.
“Our offence wasn’t crisp early but we got stops on defence to help and get out and run to get easy hoops,” said Mazurak.
Jordan Korol pocketed 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Cats, while Jordyn Cullum flushed 20 points and 10 rebounds. Anna Rice rang up a dozen points and Kristy Fugel pulled down 10 boards.
Maggie upended Westsyde 65-54 with Megan Audmussen-Blair bagging 28 points and Danielle Ruocco sinking 14 for Maggie. Emerson Hansen had 17 points for Westsyde.
Immaculata shelled Sa-Hali 81-44 in other Thursday play. Emma Johnson jumpstarted the Mustang attack with 28 points.
The Huskies held off Fulton 64-61 in a great battle of fourth-and fifth-seeded schools.
Fulton were up by a bucket at the half and trailing by three in the final 25 seconds, missed a couple of good looks at tying the game. Megan Rouault netted 20 points for Fulton, who got 14 from AJ Jacura and a dozen from Britany Skrenek. Alexis Hyde rebounded and contributed first off the bench. Shelby Hughes scored a couple key baskets which helped to keep Fulton’s momentum going.
In Kelowna, the Maroons split their opening games at Valley Junior Boys Championships, defeating Osoyoos Rattlers 58-44 after losing 51-35 to the NorKam Saints.
Nathan Banga took game MVP in the win, supplying 13 points, five steals and four assists. Hunter Krieger chipped in wirth a dozen points and 14 boards, while Noah Lee pocketed 10 points and six rebounds. Landon Currie counted six points, eight steals and seven boards.
“This was a good win for the team,” said Fulton coach Johnal Lee. “It was truly a group effort. Isaac Olson was a beast on the boards and defensively and Caden Doyle had a great game.”
Banga bagged eight points against NorKam, while Krieger and Greg Geistlinger each netted six.
