Richmond’s senior girls basketball teams will at last come together for the city championships starting on Tuesday at RC Palmer.
The six-team event will also determine seeding for the upcoming South Fraser Zone Playoffs that will feature Richmond schools battle opponents from Surrey and Delta for provincial tournament berths.
Regular season play didn’t include the six-time defending McMath Wildcats or Steveston-London Sharks as both were kept off the schedule to keep a more competitive balance.
Instead, the two teams met last Wednesday at McMath where the Wildcats cruised to a 96-57 victory to earn the No. 1 seed for the city playoffs. The Sharks will be No. 2.
St. Francis Xavier University-bound Liz Kennedy led the winners with 23 points as the Wildcats raced out to a 24-3 lead after one quarter and never looked back. Caitlin Kippan added 18 and Marina Radocaj 17. Abby Boden (11) and Kiayra Hohlweg (10) also hit for double figures.
The Sharks had a much better final 20 minutes after producing just 10 points in the opening half. They were led by the three-point shooting of senior guard Shir Dayan.
A young Hugh Boyd Trojans team will be the No. 3 seed after going 8-0 in league play. Host Palmer (6-1), McRoberts (5-3), Richmond High (5-3) and MacNeill (4-3) round out the entries.
The semi-finals are slated for 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The final goes 7 p.m. on Thursday.
At the buzzer….
The Richmond Junior Boys Championships will also take place next week. Host MacNeill will be the No. 1 seed after rolling to a 9-0 record. The Steveston-London Sharks (7-2) are the No. 2 seed. That final goes on Friday at 5 p.m.
Richmond High is hosting the Bantam Girls City Championships where the McRoberts Strikers (8-0) will be the team to beat. That final goes on Thursday at 5 p.m.
