The Pen High Lakers junior girls basketball team have qualified for the B.C. Junior Girls’ Basketball Provincial Championships.
The Lakers are among three teams to have qualified for provincials in Langley March 1 to 4 through a qualifying tournament. They went 3-0 at the Mennonite Educational Institute provincial qualifier over the weekend.
The Lakers opened by defeating North Vancouver’s Windsor school 54-21, then defeated host MEI 36-25 and closed out with a 48-38 victory against Whistler. With the provincial berth secured, Lakers coach Chris Terris said that takes off all their pressure.
“We can focus on fine-tuning our systems and individual skills moving forward,” he said.
Against Windsor, the Lakers were led by Kali Loewen, who scored 13 points, added six rebonds and four steals. Olivia Devito chipped in 10 points with five assists. Against MEI, Loewen led with 11 points, while Jennifer Hayman grabbed 15 rebounds and Kalli Doell had four steals.
READ MORE: Lakers enjoy undefeated tournament run
“We stressed the importance of rebounding the basketball and limiting teams’ second chances,” said Terris. “Jennifer and Kali Loewen led the way all weekend on the glass.”
Against Whistler, Loewen again led the Lakers attack pacing it with 13 points. She and Hayman led with 10 rebounds, while Doell led the group with four steals. The Lakers led the game 21-16 at the half.
“Whistler lost in the final of the provincial qualifier at Riverside the weekend before, so we knew that they were going to be a handful,” said Terris. “They were long and athletic, and well-coached by former National team player, Alan Kristmanson.”
Terris said that co-coach Russ Reid has been working hard with the players in practice on transition defence. Terris felt the girls responded really well.
“We gave up very few easy buckets and forced teams to beat us in the half court,” he said.
The Lakers are 16-2 on the season and 4-0 in league play.
The B.C. Junior Girls’ Basketball Provincial Championships has been expanded to 24 teams for 2017. Sixteen of the berths follow the traditional distribution (two berth for the Okanagan Valley). The additional eight are awarded to the winners of eight provincial qualifying tournaments. Teams can participate in a maximum of two of the qualifying tournaments.
2016/17 Top 15 Jan. 16th
1/ Kelowna 10-1
2/ STA 12-3
3/ Penticton 16-2
4/ Whistler 10-2
5/ Bateman 18-0
6/ LFA 9-1
7/ Royal Bay 23-2
8/ Brookswood 12-3
9/ Tweedsmuir 14-4
10/ Langley Christian 10-1
11/ Seycove 11-3
12/ Duchess Park 14-2
13/ Heritage Woods 10-1
14/ Panorama 9-1
15/ South Kamloops 14-3
Honorable mention: OKM (12-3), McMath (14-5), Smithers, Earl Marriott, MEI, Riverside and STM
