These are exciting times for the senior girls basketball team at Rick Hansen Secondary, and the Hurricanes underlined that fact by winning their home tournament on the weekend.
The Hansen girls ascended to the No. 5 spot in the provincial AA rankings last week, which is believed to be unprecedented for the program. They celebrated by winning all three games at their Roundball Classic, punctuated by a 64-49 win over the Abbotsford Christian Knights in the final.
“Rick Hansen has been a football and wrestling school for the most part,” noted Hurricanes co-coach Jas Gill. “This might be the first time the senior girls have ever been ranked, and certainly not this high.
“We’ve had this core group, for the most part, since Grade 7. We’re definitely excited, and we’re looking to make a run at provincials.”
Hansen guard Revine Gill picked up tourney MVP honours, and teammates Jasmine Gill and Shubhreet Sandhu were named to the all-star team, along with Carissa Berger of Abby Christian.
On the senior boys side of the Roundball Classic, the Bateman Timberwolves battled their way to the final, where they dropped an 88-84 decision to Rutland of Kelowna. Parm Sidhu and Iqbal Grewal of the T-Wolves were selected as tourney all-stars.
The host Hansen boys finished third, beating Samuel Robertson Technical of Maple Ridge in the bronze medal game behind standout performances from DK Dhaliwal and Balkar Sidhu.
MVP KRAHN, ALLISON COME UP BIG FOR EAGLES
The Mennonite Educational Institute senior boys were at Oak Bay High School in Victoria for a tournament on the weekend, and they laid claim to the gold with a dramatic overtime win over the host squad in the final.
Oak Bay rallied from an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter to take a three-point lead in the final minute, but Eagles guard Josiah Allison hit a game-tying trey and added a couple key baskets in OT as MEI won 69-65.
“It’s a huge confidence booster for our team heading into the Christmas break,” enthused MEI coach Jon Schmidt, whose squad beat Cowichan (75-61) and Mount Douglas (81-71) en route to the final.
Greg Krahn was tourney MVP, while Allison was a first team all-star.
