The VSS Panthers bowed 70-54 to No. 3 Duchess Park Condors of Prince George in Saturday’s final of the Sa-Hali Senior Girls Basketball Invitational.
Tournament all-star Karley Fugel recorded 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Jordan Korol posted 11 points and six rebounds. Kristie Fugel sank seven points, while game star Megan Prentice and Anna Rice each added six.
“We saw improvement from every player and many of the mistakes we made are mistakes that young teams make,” said John Keeley, who coaches alongside Lonny Mazaruk. “So much of the really good stuff we saw our players do on the floor does not show up on the stat sheet.”
Earlier Saturday, the Panthers iced the Abbotsford Christian Knights 69-44 with Fugel earning 15 points and 12 rebounds and Korol getting 14 points and nine boards. Rice (game MVP) pocketed 11 points and six assists, while Prentice collected six points and six steals.
Korol recorded 24 points and a dozen rebounds as VSS upended College Heights Cougars of Prince George 72-34. Jordan Cullum took MVP with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Fugel counted 14 points and 17 rebounds.
Fugel put up 16 points and 15 boards and Korol received MVP with 16 points and 12 rebounds as the Cats opened by slamming Sardis Falcons 69-38.
Fulton went 1-2 at the Sa-Hali tourney, finishing Saturday with a 44-37 win over Sardis. All-star Brittany Skrenek bottled up 15 points for the Maroons, who got 10 from AJ Acura. Lee Richardson took game MVP.
Earlier Saturday, the Maroons fell 81-36 to the Princess Margaret Mustangs of Penticton with MVP Erin Sakamoto scoring 10 points and Rajvir Randhawa adding seven.
“We are improving from tournament to tournament,” said Fulton coach Mike Scheller. “Teams are scoring on us late which inflates the margin of victory. Our last game against Sardis was a very complete game for our club.”
VSS dropped a 39-38 thriller to the KLO Cougars of Kelowna in Saturday afternoon’s consolation final of the Junior Panthers Pit-Stop Tournament.
Courtney Day sank one foul shot in the final seconds for the Cougars. Wynne Kanester drove the hoop repeatedly to score 12 points for VSS, while Megan Wiebe added 10 points and seven rebounds.
Running the offence, point guard Brianna Falk (game MVP) garnered eight points and five steals, successfully breaking through a tough KLO full-court press. Taryn Kreeft also chipped in seven points going 100 per cent at the charity line. Darla Cleveland and Ashley Condie stopped a lot of damage with their gritty defensive play.
Co-coach Michele Wiebe was stoked to see the defence really click, which kept the game close.
Earlier Saturday, the Panthers were knocked out of the final 54-44 by the Okanagan Mission Huskies of Kelowna.
Mikaela Pfannschmidt had 10 points for the Cats, while Falk put up eight points, six assists and four steals. Kanester warranted game MVP with seven points and four blocks.
