At the start of the season, coach Terry Stead said he was not sure what to expect for the coming basketball season.
“It was an unknown,” he admitted.
“I knew we had a strong team but we didn’t know what was out there.”
And now that the dust has settled, the Walnut Grove Gators have finished with the bronze medal at the Grade 8 boys invitational B.C. championships.
The tournament was held March 6 to 8 in Pitt Meadows.
The Gators defeated the Handsworth Royals 55-45 in the bronze medal game on Saturday afternoon.
“Third place is a good result,” Stead said.
Walnut Grove had entered the 16-team tournament seeded seventh. The lower ranking was due to the fact they had finished third at the Fraser Valley championships the week before.
The teams that finished ahead of the Gators placed sixth and seventh, respectively, at provincials.
Walnut Grove went 3-1 at provincials.
In the opener, the Gators hammered Dover Bay 63-26 with James Woods earning player of the game honours.
The quarter-finals saw Walnut Grove go up against the second-seed St. Georges Saints on Friday morning. And after being down by five points at the half, the Gators rallied for the 47-44 victory. Luke Adams was player of the game.
But foul problems plagued the Gators in the semifinals that night, as they had a dozen fouls in the first quarter alone, and they lost 68-51 to the Argyle Pipers.
And with a medal on the line in the final game, Walnut Grove responded nicely to defeat the Handsworth Royals 55-45.
Dannan Sturn earned player of the game, as well as a second team all-star award.
Woods, who picked up his second player of the game award in the loss to Argyle, was named a first team all-star.
