Steveston-London Sharks concluded an outstanding season with a second place finish at the B.C. Grade 8 Girls Invitational Basketball Championships in Pitt Meadows.
Coming off earlier wins in the Richmond and Vancouver District playoffs, the Sharks rode their momentum all the way to Saturday’s title game before falling to a juggernaut team from Semiahmoo.
The road to the final was hardly an easy one as Steveston-London opened with a 49-34 victory over Seaquam, then slipped past Gordon Head 38-35 in the quarter-finals. The girls booked their spot in the championship game with a 48-39 triumph on Friday against Lord Tweedmuir.
Three challenging games in as many days, coupled with a dominant Semiahmoo team resulted in the Sharks being on the short end of a 89-25 decision. The South Surrey school was a major force all season, to the point where they were also beating many of the top junior teams in the province.
The Sharks still proved they will be a major force in the years to come. They also were named the tournament’s most sportsmanlike team, while Mina Chong and Katie Chan were named first and second team all-stars respectively.
On the boys side, the McMath Wildcats turned in a strong performance from start to finish — ending up in eighth place. They opened with a 59-44 round of 16 win over Gordon Head, then dropped a 68-57 decision to eventual runner-up C&G Howe.
The Wildcats were edged 65-62 in overtime by Vancouver College, before closing out the tournament with a 60-28 win over Churchill.
The MacNeill Ravens concluded their solid season with a 10th place finish. They opened with a heartbreaking 60-58 loss to Abby Middle School, then rebounded with consolation wins against Ladysmith (52-31) and Vernon (55-32). They concluded play Saturday with 53-45 loss to Gordon Head.
Jackson Thackwray was named a second team tournament all-star.
In Courtenay, the McMath Wildcats finished fifth at the B.C. Grade 9 Boys Invitational Championships.
The Wildcats cruised past Lake Trail 60-44 in the opening round, then lost a tight battle with St. George’s, 51-43. The boys bounced back with consolation wins over Tupper (68-58) and Carson Graham (58-42).
Rohan Balaggan and Victor Radocaj were name second and third team all-stars respectively.
Earlier, at the B.C. Grade 9 Girls Championships, RC Palmer wrapped up a terrific season with a 12th place finish. The future is bright for this group with over half the team aging up from Grade 8 to play
The B.C. Junior Girls Championships in Langley saw McMath finish 17th.
The 19th seeded Wildcats opened with a 46-26 loss to No. 14 Robert Bateman. The Abbotsford school would go on to finish third.
McMath then produced wins in the consolation bracket over GP Vanier (43-23), Smithers (48-38) and Nanaimo 44-38).
