They may have lost their final two games, but the Langley Christian Lightning were at least happy with their effort in the second of those efforts.
The Lightning finished fourth at the B.C. Single A senior boys basketball championships, which were hosted at Trinity Western University.
They lost 76-60 to the Immaculata Mustangs in the third-place game. They also lost 70-45 to the Kelowna Christian Knights the previous night in the semifinals. The Knights also captured top spot.
“We played better, that is for sure,” said Lightning coach Matt Van Muyen, comparing Saturday and Friday’s efforts.
“When we walked into the dressing room, the guys knew they had played hard, so that was satisfying.”
Heading into the fourth quarter, Langley Christian trailed by five points before the Mustangs were able to pull away late.
“We worked really hard, we just didn’t execute,” Van Muyen said.
“We just didn’t finish and missed a lot of shots.”
Jason Wright led the Lightning in scoring in three of the four games.
He had 18 in the final game and 16 in the semifinal loss. BJ Reich and Mitchell Jarvie earned player of the game honours in those two contests, respectively.
In the opener, Wright led the way with 19 points in a 57-49 victory over the Sparwood Spartans.
In the quarter-finals, Wright missed much of the game with a head injury and foul trouble. But Joel Kleingeltink more than picked up the slack, pouring in 29 points in a 55-52 come-from-behind victory over the West Point Grey Wolves.
The Lightning trailed by 10 at the half but came out firing in the third quarter, holding the Wolves to four points while taking the lead and never looking back.
Wright was named a second team all-star while Kleingeltink was an honourable mention.
“They both had great tournaments and worked really hard,” Van Muyen said.
“They deserved the recognition.”
