The Walnut Grove Gators had no answer for Georgia Swant.
Swant scored 44 points — including 30 in the second half — as the Argyle Pipers dashed the Gators golden dreams in the championship final on Saturday afternoon.
The two teams were playing for the gold medal at the B.C. junior girls provincial basketball championships at the Langley Events Centre.
And the Gators trailed by 10 points midway through the second quarter before cutting the lead to three at the half and then surging ahead 53-49 after three quarters.
But the Pipers’ star guard showed why she was named most valuable player, scoring all 12 points for her team in the third quarter and then 18 of Argyle’s 22 points in the fourth for the 71-65 victory.
“I think she just had a spectacular game,” said Walnut Grove coach Darren Rowell.
“She just made everything. She didn’t many any mistakes the whole game.
“I actually thought we were in pretty good shape at the half, only down three after a slow start but (she) just lit us up.”
Argyle was the fourth seed and had knocked off tournament No. 1 Lord Tweedsmuir 52-48 in one semifinal the night before. Walnut Grove, seeded second, needed a pair of free throws from Tavia Rowell with 11 seconds to play to defeat No. 3 Kelowna 62-60 in the other semifinal.
Tavia Rowell led the Gators in the final with 22 points, but she fouled out in the final minute and her team down just three points.
Argyle iced the game with free throws.
Natalia Monro had 16 points and Natalie Rahler had 11 and Alex Tadic chipped in eight.
The Gators were able to take advantage of Argyle foul trouble in the third quarter as two of the Pipers inside players — Brianna Joyce and Julia Tancon — had four fouls each.
Rowell said he told his team to attack the rim in hopes of drawing fouls against the pair.
“But we just didn’t get any calls and the ball wasn’t dropping,” he said. “I was hoping going inside would help us but it didn’t.”
Regardless of the outcome of the final game, Rowell said he is thrilled to finish second in the province, especially considering he didn’t know what he had when the season began.
“Absolutely we would have loved to win it, but we are really proud of the girls for how much they have improved this year,” he said. “They dedicated themselves since October.”
“It was a great effort and we lost to a really good team today.”
For the season, Walnut Grove finished 38-4.
Tavia Rowell was named a first team all-star while Natalia Monro was a second team selection.
Gary Ahuja Langley Times
Walnut Grove’s Natalia Monro (#31) and Natalie Rathler had 16 and 11 points, respectively, but the Gators fell short in their quest for a provincial basketball championship.
