The Charles Bloom Timberwolves used home-floor advantage to win their opening games at the Timberwolves Senior Girls Invitational Basketball Tournament Friday in Lumby.
The T-Wolves shook off some early jitters to brush back the Seaton Sonics 50-18 in their opener. Bloom led 14-3 after one quarter and got excellent pressure from guards Lisa Campeau, Josalyn Shields and Jessica Salzmann to create numerous turnovers.
In their second pool game, the Timberwolves overcame an early 10-0 deficit to earn a 56-41 comeback win over the Barriere Cougars.
The Cougars surprised Bloom with a well-executed full court press, but the hosts persevered to close the gap to five points at the half. Bloom went on a 31-11 run in the second half to secure the win.
“The difference in the second half was that we played much more physical and disciplined basketball,” said Bloom coach Nathan Lee.
“I was very happy with our rebounding, in particular from Shannon Baetschmann and Jessica Fraese, who were both very solid at both ends of the floor tonight.”
In other Invitational play Friday, the Pleasant Valley Saints of Armstrong outlasted Enderby’s A.L. Fortune Falcons 40-34. The Falcons rebounded with a 47-33 win over the Heritage Christian Saints of Kelowna that night.
The Vernon Panthers opened the MEI Eagles Senior Girls Tournament Friday in Abbotsford with a 59-56 win over the Claremont Spartans of Victoria.
The Cats, ranked No. 3 in the AA loop, got 11 points each from Quincy Leier and Sage Blundell. Karley Fugel added nine points and seven rebounds.
“This was a great test for us as we were down as many as nine points in the first half and had some foul trouble, but our team battled and stuck together,” said VSS coach Bobby Mitchell.
“We were tied at half and basically traded the lead in the second half. Our team was in a new situation and found a way to win a tight game. We are proud of the team, but we understand as a team we need to be better against tougher competition.”
The Panthers faced the No. 10 AAA W.J. Mouat Hawks of Abbostford Saturday.
The Fulton Maroons opened their Senior girls tourney with a convincing 62-22 decision over the Sardis Falcons.
The Maroons went with a full-court press to stifle the Falcon attack, while generating their own offence with some timely fast breaks.
Samantha Ferreir (16 points), Emma Miller (15), Hana Ouchi (8), Meranda Silva (8) and Annette Christian (7) were the Fulton’s main threats.
The host Kalamalka Lakers dropped a pair of games at their Grade 8 tournament Friday in Coldstream.
Kal fell 38-25 to the Sa-Hali Sabres of Kamloops, and 32-28 to the McNicoll Park Dragons of Penticton.
Fulton also started the Kal tourney at 2-0, losing 47-20 to Kettle Valley Railway of Penticton, and 40-17 to the South Kamloops Titans.
