Fernie Secondary School’s senior boys and girls basketball teams made it to the BC High School 1A Basketball Championships played during March 4 to March 7. The male Falcons headed into the tournament ranked fifth and ended up finishing fourth, whereas the girls team triumphantly finished fifth despite being ranked seventh.
Playing in the 1A league, the male Falcons started the tournament off strong, winning their first game on March 4 against Ecole Gabrielle-Roy with a final score of 86-74. Scoring 51 points in the first half of the game, the team set themselves up as a force to be reckoned with early in the event. Players Asher Hannemann and Nesta Malcolm, both in grade 11, were recognized for playing incredible games. Hannemann scored the team 32 points, as well as finished the game with 12 rebounds, seven assists, and six steals. Malcolm scored 28 points and had six rebounds.
At the quarter finals, the team faced Barriere in a heated game that ended with a final score of 84-71 for Fernie. The Falcons led each quarter, thus winning the game and heading to the semi finals on Friday, March 6.
At their semi final game, the Falcons faced Highroad Academy. They finished the first quarter leading with a score of 25-21. Slowly slipping throughout the remainder of the game, the boys unfortunately succumbed to losses and finished the game with a score of 68-79.
Playing for bronze in their last game of the tournament, the Fernie boys faced Kelowna Christian in a game that finished with a score of 88-56 for Kelowna. Despite a weak start, the team played strongly in the last three quarters of the game. After hard fought battles throughout the weekend, the Falcons culminated their season with a fourth place title, finishing above what they were ranked heading into the tournament.
At the end of the tournament, Hannemann received the Second Team All Star award, wherein he was recognized as one of the top 10 athletes in the province.
The female Falcons had an equally impressive tournament, finishing fourth place out of a total of 16 teams. The team had excellent defensive plays and proved they could compete at the highest level throughout provincials and as a result, the girls have a season’s worth of success be proud of. Throughout the tournament, the girls came out victorious in three of their four games, only losing once to the team that ended up making it to the championships.
“The girls began to peak at the right time. We exceeded our standards,” said head coach of the girls team, Jen Kennedy.
Among notable accomplishments was beating the third ranked team in the province, as well as receiving the tournament’s Sportsmanship Fair Play Award. The team would like to congratulate two of their players, Brooke Demmings and Alisia Dvorka for receiving Second Team All Star Awards. Game All Stars also included Morgan Trand, Autumn Whiteburn, and once again Demmings who received the distinction twice.
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