Not only are the Steveston-London Sharks and McMath Wildcats the respective teams to beat at this week’s Richmond Senior Boys and Girls Senior Basketball Championships, their futures look bright too.
The West Richmond area schools both captured city junior titles last week.
The Sharks won the boys championship with a 50-34 victory over the RC Palmer Griffins in Friday’s title game played at Richmond High.
The Griffins were looking to cap a perfect run in city play, that included a 45-40 win over the Sharks in their season opener back on Dec. 8. It would turn out to be Steveston-London’s only loss against Richmond opponents.
The Sharks took control of the final with a big run just before halftime and never looked back.
Both teams had their hands full in their respective semi-final games. Steveston-London held off the McMath Wildcats 65-59 and the Griffins needed a last second basket to trim the host Colts 60-58 in a thriller.
The Sharks opened the championships with a 76-27 win over MacNeill, while Palmer defeated Richmond Christian 75-36. Other first round scored included Richmond High defeating McNair 69-39 and McMath getting past Cambie, 63-44.
Richmond High will join the Sharks and Griffins at the Vancouver and District Championships after beating McMath 48-30 in the third place game. The district playoffs start Feb. 15.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats capped a season of dominance in the Richmond Junior Girls League with a 44-25 win over the Cambie Crusaders.
McMath opened the playoffs with a 42-25 victory against Richmond Christian, while the Crusaders earned their spot in the final by slipping past Richmond High 45-41.
With 10 returning players from last year’s squad, which finished sixth at the Grade 9 Provincial Championships, the Wildcats will be looking to make another deep post-season run — this time to the Telus B.C. Junior Girls Championships next month in Langley. To do that, they will need a strong showing at the Lower Mainland Tournament that will feature a competitive field of teams.
The Wildcats roster includes: Alyssa Azote, Macaela Bradley-Tse, Dakota Chan, Jalen Donaldson, Allison Fast, Morgan Flynn, Shania Falerio, Capri Horstmann, Sophia Kostiuk, Martha Melaku, Jessica Porter and Jennifer Vonas.
The girls are coached by Kira Carre, Becky Atkinson, Steven Flynn and Doug Tweedlie.
At the buzzer…
The Wildcats are also city champions at the Bantam Girls level after a hard-fought 26-23 victory over the MacNeill Ravens in the title game.
In a very competitive tournament, McMath slipped past Steveston-London 32-27 in the opening round, and Palmer, 26-23, in the semi-finals. The Ravens reached the final for the first time in school history with wins against Richmond High (37-31) and Hugh Boyd (33-31).
Palmer will join the Wildcats and Ravens at the V&D Championships after trimming Boyd 34-32 in another thrilling game.
That tournament starts Feb. 15 and will take place in Richmond.
