Wellington teams didn’t win their Superball tournament, but it was still School District 68 teams that finished on top.
The Nanaimo District Islanders senior girls and the Ladysmith 49ers senior boys went undefeated to win the annual basketball tournament at Wellington Secondary School.
The NDSS girls won all their games convincingly. The Isles started with a 70-30 blowout against Shawnigan Lake on Thursday and were just as thorough the next day, hammering Spectrum 69-28. In the premier girls’ game Saturday, Nanaimo District handled Wellington 54-32 with Erin Jensen scoring a game-high 15 points for NDSS.
The senior boys’ final Saturday saw the 49ers beat Parkland 70-47. Reece Melnick scored 27 points and was chosen tournament MVP and teammate Carter Bouma scored 15.
Melnick said his team went into the final focused on defence and players got into their checks, took away passes and turned it into offence at the other end. He said at the offensive end of the court there was good ball movement and the 49ers hit their shots.
“We were just really focused on getting everyone involved so the defence on the other team couldn’t adjust,” he said.
Ladysmith started the tourney with a 74-50 win against Vic High and then beat D.W. Poppy 70-38.
Melnick said the team is continuing to develop and said players have good team chemistry on and off the court.
“I think we can compete against anyone,” he said. “We’ve just got to play well and have good energy from the start.”
As for the home teams, both Wellington squads won two out of three on the weekend. The senior girls defeated Spectrum 57-40 and handled Poppy 58-31 before falling to ND. The Wildcats senior boys started the tournament with a 70-66 loss against Parkland, but responded with a 61-51 win against Brooks and a 58-55 victory over Vic High.
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