The host Fulton Maroons went undefeated in pool play to reach the final of the 14th Corporate Classic Senior Boys Basketball Tournament Saturday afternoon at Fulton gym.
Dale Olson’s Maroons met the Westsyde Whundas of Kamloops in the championship game. Fulton led the season series 2-1 heading into the final.
Olson said his team’s resiliency has played a big part in its success.
“They don’t quit. We’ve been down in a lot of games this year, and they always seem to come back. That’s a great quality in a team.
“We’re young – we’ve only got four Grade 12s – but we’re playing with a fair bit of maturity. We’ve got a good bench. I’m playing nine guys pretty comfortably.”
The Maroons capped a 3-0 preliminary run with a 97-66 win over the L.V. Rogers Bombers of Nelson Friday night. They spread out the scoring, with 14 points apiece coming from Michael Rouault and Darrien Broomfield.
Tye Kitzman (13 points), Riley Beauchamp (11) and Bekim Maliqi (10) also reached double-digits. Ethan Perkins led the Bombers with 17 points.
Rouault is Fulton’s go-to guy, but Olson noted the Maroons are deep enough to spread out the offence.
“He’s our No. 1 option, but they dribble and kick all the time and they’re knocking shots down. We’ve got enough talent we can share it around.”
The Maroons rallied from a first-quarter deficit to rattle the Sa-Hali Sabres of Kamloops 83-67 in Thursday’s tournament opener. Rouault led all scorers with 21 points, while Cory Ang-Hamilton added 15 and Kitzman delivered 13.
Fulton used a 32-point effort by Rouault to brush back the Golden Golden Eagles 71-63 Friday. Neal Bandhawa canned 29 points for the Eagles.
Westsyde cruised through the B Pool with wins over the Kalamalka Lakers (88-67), Vernon Panthers (90-73) and Princess Margaret Mustangs of Penticton (74-33).
The Panthers went 2-1 to reach Saturday’s bronze-medal game against the Sabres.
VSS opened with an 83-56 decision over Maggie Thursday, led by Chris Inscho’s 21 points. John Garvie chipped in with 20 points and Shelby Hartwig dialed up 18 and 13 rebounds. Jas Sahota dropped 19 points for the Mustangs.
Vernon struggled to find its game against Westsyde Friday morning. Garvie was a one-man show, racking up 44 points.
The Panthers stormed out on an 11-0 run against Kal and went on to win 106-89.
The local rivals put on another great offensive show for the fans, with Garvie knocking down 52 points, including 18-of-21 from the charity stripe.
Inscho (24 points) and Andy Hladik (17) also had big games for VSS.
Leading Kal with career-high 35 points was Ajay Jhajj, while Lucas Ross supplied 12 and Jamie Pruckl had 11 and 13 boards.
Kal went bucket-for-bucket against Westsyde in the first half, but Whundas’ star Joe Davis took over the game to finish with 41 points.
The Lakers’ Tye Oddy chipped in 17 points, while Pruckl and Chris Gallant scored 13 apiece.
Kal coughed up 27 turnovers in a 73-51 loss to Princess Margaret. Oddy put in eight points and Gallant had 10 rebounds.
Meanwhile, the junior girls Panthers open their Pit-Stop tourney by stuffing the Salmon Arm Jewels 63-37 Friday at the Panther Pit.
Game MVP Mikaela Pfannschmidt drained 16 points, while Brianna Falk who recorded 10 assists, 10 steals and four points. Also hot for the Cats were Taryn Kreeft (10 points) and Wynne Kanester (nine).
Defensive dynamo Darla Cleveland added six points, three rebounds and a pair of steals.
Rhiannon Lutzke came off the bench to scoop some key rebounds and score five points.
Panther co-coaches Howie Falk, Michele Wiebe and Clint Kanester were pleased with how the Panthers took charge in the second half to finish with a sound win.
The Cats faced the Okanagan Mission Huskies Saturday morning.
