Wellington Secondary School can enjoy a double victory, but only for a little while, as the next round is nearly here.
The Wellington Wildcats senior AA boys’ and senior AA girls’ basketball teams both won North Island championships on the weekend.
The senior boys defeated Isfeld 53-42 on Saturday night at the Wellington school gym.
“We were disciplined,” said Glenn Johnson, ’Cats coach. “We moved the ball around, got the ball inside.”
He also liked his team’s defence,as they forced turnovers, challenged shooters and boxed out.
“[The Ice] were missing their shots and we were getting the rebounds,” he said. “One shot and out is a good way to play basketball.”
Tyler Radelja scored 22 points and Brad Jenks and Aaron Copley had 12 each.
Also advancing were the Woodlands Eagles and Nanaimo District Islanders, who faced off in the third-place game. The Eagles won 91-70, with Bryson Cox scoring 38 points and Zack Williams adding 21 for Woodlands. Aidan Goodall had 19 for ND with Tyus Barfoot scoring 18.
The Island championships are scheduled to start Thursday (Feb. 21) at Wellington, but there is work to be done before that tournament begins. The last two days of the North Islands last weekend couldn’t be played at Wellington’s centre court after a Ladysmith 49ers player’s overly enthusiastic slam dunk brought down the backboard during Friday’s warmups. Remaining games were played against the gym’s far wall.
“Actually this court’s pretty good for us; we practise on that half court all year. So it’s actually our secret weapon there,” joked Johnson.
Wellington is expecting to have the backboard fixed in time for Islands.
Welly’s senior AA girls won the North Island championship Saturday in Courtenay, beating the Ballenas Whalers 66-47. Sara Simovic scored 15 points, Julie Zhao had 12 and Victoria Brown and Alanna Jones scored 10 apiece.
The fifth-place Cedar Spartans, sixth-place Woodlands Eagles and seventh-place Nanaimo District Islanders were all eliminated from senior AA girls’ playoffs.
The Dover Bay Dolphins senior AAA girls finished second at North Islands at Port Alberni, falling 82-72 to the G.P. Vanier Towhees in Saturday’s final. McKenzie Nicks led Dover with 32 points, Jenna Ziemanski scored 13 and Gabby Jeffrey had 11.
Dover will host Islands starting Thursday. Please look for more information next issue.
