Sylix girls repeat as champions

The Sylix Nation girls basketball team defended their Junior All Native basketball tournament championship on Friday.

Clayton Gottfriedson, #15 on the Sylix boys' team, goes up for a shot during the closing minutes of the boys final of the junior All Native Basketball tournament. The boys were behind throught the final period but never gave up, closing the gap to just three points before falling behind again and losing 66-55 to the Homiss Wolves.

Clayton Gottfriedson, #15 on the Sylix boys' team, goes up for a shot during the closing minutes of the boys final of the junior All Native Basketball tournament. The boys were behind throught the final period but never gave up, closing the gap to just three points before falling behind again and losing 66-55 to the Homiss Wolves.

The Sylix Nation girls basketball team defended their Junior All Native basketball tournament championship on Friday.

After beating the At’maakw girls team on Thursday by a wide margin they saw a much tougher version of the squad on Friday — still they managed to win 63-42 taking the tournament championship for the second year in a row.

Team captain Ashley McGinnis, from Oliver, led Sylix to victory with 26 points, drowning seven from three-point range. Last year’s tournament Most Valuable Player, Jade Waardenburg, finished the game with eight points and Jasmine Montgomery-Reid scored 12 points.

On the boys side, Sylix had a tough battle from the Homiss Wolves, eventually losing 66-55 after nearly tying the game several times.

For more on the Junior All Native basketball tournament, see Wednesday’s Penticton Western News or visit www.pentictonwesternnews.com for stories, photos and video.

Penticton Western News