The Cinderella run for the Pen High Lakers rugby team ended.
The senior boys lost to Tery Fox 30-20.
More on this story to come in the Wednesday edition of the Western News.
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Playing for a provincial title almost doesn’t feel real to Ken Sommerfeldt.
But, that is exactly what is happening for the Pen High Lakers senior boys rugby team at the B.C. Secondary Schools Rugby Union championship in Abbotsford Saturday.
“Nobody really paid attention to us,” said Sommerfeldt. “Nobody expected us to do well. We haven’t been to provincials in a long time.”
The Lakers, seeded No. 5, defeated fourth-seed Kitsilano 26-15, then knocked off No.1 seed Claremont from Victoria 40-22 on Thursday. Now they take on No. 2 Terry Fox for a shot at the AAA Tier 2 title at 1 p.m. Sommerfeldt said if there ever was a Cinderella team, the Lakers are it.
What has given the team an edge is that Sommerfeldt and his coaches have scouted every team, yet he doesn’t think any of their opponents bothered to scout them.
“They never used their strengths to take advantage of our weaknesses,” he said.
Also helping the Lakers get as far as they have is their ability to break the trend of slow starts, which they dealt with all season. They have scored first and played more evenly. The Lakers encountered some problems near the end of the opening half against Claremont as the players got frustrated with some calls by the officials, but Sommerfeldt, who officiates rugby games in Penticton, had no complaints about the calls. The Lakers coach felt his players were beating themselves up. After a quick chat, the Lakers turned their play around to dominate. D.J. Warkentin led the Lakers with three tries, Alex Preston scored two and Dante Kilian had the other try. The Lakers also scored five converts against Claremont.
Taking on Terry Fox, Sommerfeldt likes their chances of returning home with a provincial championship. There is nothing in the way that Terry Fox play that scares Sommerfeldt. The Port Coquitlam school features big players, but Sommerfeldt noted they are not mobile.
“We have big guys that are mobile,” he said. “The big guys will match up.”
