Tye Kitzman drained 16 points as the host Fulton Maroons mauled the VSS Panthers 90-49 in North Zone Senior AA Boys Basketball League play Wednesday night.
Michael Rouault supplied 14 points and eight assists for the Maroons, while Clayton Mottus also sank 14 and Austin Richardson pocketed a dozen points and rebounds.
Chris Inscho, with 14 points, and Matt Forsythe, with 13 points and eight rebounds, paced the Panthers.
The game was originally scheduled for the new VSS gym, but switched later in case the gym wasn’t totally ready.
Dale Olson’s Maroons get the weekend off before meeting the Princess Margaret Mustangs of Penticton Thursday (3:30 p.m.) to open their 13th annual Maroon Corporate Classic.
“We have three ranked teams coming here so it should be good,” said Olson.
The No. 3-ranked Duchess Park Condors of Prince George, Pen-Hi Lakers, Westsyde Whundas of Kamloops, South Okanagan Hornets, L.V. Rogers Bombers of Nelson and Sa-Hali Sabres of Kamloops round out the Classic draw.
In senior girls play Wednesday night, VSS ambushed Fulton 93-31 with Quinsy Leier collecting 19 points.
“It was a great team effort from our girls with five scoring in double figures,” said Panther coach Bobby Mitchell. “After having five or six hard practices over the break, this game was much needed and the girls came out flying right away.”
Karly Fugel provided 14 points and 10 boards for the Cats, while Jessica Harvey also rung up 14, Ashtyn McKenzie added 13 and Jenna Marrion earned 11.
The Panthers open the MEI Eagles tournament in Clearbook today against the Claremont Spartans of Victoria.
Emma Miller, with 15, and Hana Ouchi, with six, led the Maroons.
In Grade 8 girls play Monday, the Panthers roared into 2013 with a 51-14 win over the Len Wood Extreme of Armstrong.
The baby Panthers had the honour of being the first team to play in the pristine gym at the brand new VSS. First basket ever in the new Panther Pit was scored by Wynne Kanester, who went on to flush 10 points, matched by teammate Brianna Falk.
Top scorer for the Panthers was Reilly Lorenson with 11 points. Maria Durfeld and Victoria Higginson both had several steals, which led to clutch Panther points.
The Extreme put up more of a battle than the score would indicate, showing a lot of grit and the Panther win was a real team effort, with some excellent passing and solid defence.
The Kalamalka Lakers open their Grade 8 boys tournament today at 2 p.m. against Sa-Hali.
Fulton battles Kettle Valley Railway of Penticton at 3:30 p.m., followed by Kal versus McNicoll Park Dragons of Penticton at 5:00, and Fulton versus South Kamloops Titans at 6:30.
The playoff round in the six-team tourney begins at noon Saturday, with the final scheduled for 3 p.m.
The Charles Bloom Timberwolves senior girls tournament opens today at 2:15 with the T-wolves going up against the Seaton Sonics.
The A.L. Fortune Falcons tangle with the Pleasant Valley Saints of Armstrong at 4 p.m., with Bloom battling the Barriere Cougars at 5:45 and Fortune meeting Heritage Christian Saints of Kelowna at 7:30.
Seaton plays Barriere at 9 a.m. and PVSS takes on Heritage Christian at 10:45 to jumpstart Saturday play. The final goes at 5 p.m.
