It’s down to the gold medal finals for the top B.C. girls basketball teams in Langley.
Semiahmoo Totems are looking for a second straight championship as are the Terry Fox Ravens, although their previous titles came at the junior level.
Regardless, the core of both championship teams remain intact and the two will collide on Saturday to conclude the BC Secondary School 4A Girls Basketball Championship at Langley Events Centre.
The game pits the top seed Totems (who won the senior title in 2019 despite fielding a largely Grade 10 team) and the No. 2 Ravens, whose core is made up of Grade 10s and had the option of remaining at the junior level for another season.
The championship final is set for Saturday (Feb. 29) at 5 p.m., the last of four gold-medal games with the Junior Girls Basketball Provincial Invitational Tournament (10:30 a.m.), the BC Secondary School 2A Basketball Championship (12:30 p.m.), BC Secondary School 3A Basketball Championship (2:45 p.m.) and BC Secondary School 4A Basketball Championship (5:00 p.m.).
READ ALSO: Burnaby takes title at Junior Boys Basketball Provincial Invitational Tournament
In the first of the semi-final games, the Totems defeated the No. 4 Walnut Grove Gators in a rematch of the 2019 title game. Langley’s Gators jumped out to a 7-2 lead but by the time the first quarter closed, it was 25-17 Totems and after a 5-0 run for Semiahmoo to start the second, Walnut Grove was never able to get the deficit back to single digits. The final score was 105-78.
READ ALSO: Semiahmoo Totems topple Walnut Grove Gators in senior girls provincial basketball final
Semiahmoo has averaged 106 points per game at provincials as the Totems look to cap off a second consecutive perfect season against B.C. competition. The Totems trio of Tara Wallack (27 points), Izzy Forsyth (25 points) and Raushan Bindra (20 points) each scored 20+ points. Wallack also had 16 rebounds. The Gators were led by 28 from Kiera Pemberton and 20 from Sophia Wisotzki.
Semiahmoo proved highly effective from beyond the arc, hitting 11 of their 27 three-point attempts with Bindra scoring six triples herself.
“They can really score. That is not an easy out and I think that’s why our kids were ready to play. We respect them a great deal,” Semiahmoo coach Allison McNeill said about the Gators.
Terry Fox found itself tied early in the fourth quarter at 63 but the team responded with 9-0 run as part of an 18-8 advantage in the final frame to defeat the No. 6 Yale Lions 81-69.
“We had a lot of adversity tonight and we had some foul trouble and like we have been season, these kids have been resilient,” said coach Mike Carkner.
The Ravens are in search of the program’s first-ever senior girls provincial basketball title.
While the talent is clearly evident on the Fox roster, senior girls basketball is a big step from junior. And while making the provincial final was always the goal, there was no way to foresee it coming true for the team in their Grade 10 year.
“We kind of dreamed about it but didn’t think it was going to happen. These kids have just had a phenomenal run, we are so proud of them,” Carkner said.
Cerys Merton scored 24 points for Terry Fox while Ana-Maria Misic (19 points, 17 rebounds) and Emily Sussex (15 points, 14 rebounds) each had double-doubles. Lauren Clements added 15 points. Karishma and Neelam Rai each had 15 points for the Lions.
