The Hugh Boyd Trojans reaching the top of the podium was nothing new at the fifth annual Bob Carkner Memorial Basketball Tournament except this time it happened on the girls side of the draw.
The Trojans have won a number of boys titles at the annual Steveston-London event, dating back to when it was known as the Purple and Gold Tournament. It was the girls' turn to shine thanks to a 63-61 victory over the Killarney Cougars in Saturday's championship game.
Boyd opened with an easy 75-31 win over Team Yukon, then rolled to a 58-27 semi-final victory against the Delta Pacers. Emma Kallner was named the tournament's most valuable player, while teammates Jacqueline Yan and Sarah Strelau were selected to the All-Tournament team.
Meanwhile, the host Sharks bounced back from a heartbreaking opening round 60-57 loss to the Carson Graham Eagles to finish fourth. Steveston-London had little trouble in consolation play, first getting past Burnaby Central 63-36, then topping John Oliver, 67-46. Precilia Kong and Aliya Prasad were selected to the allstar team.
The Trojans and Sharks now turn their attention back to league play where they are both expected to challenge for the city championship. Boyd enters this week's play at 3-1, while Steveston-London sits at 2-0, including a 55-53 win over its rival last month.
Meanwhile, the Sharks just came up short of taking top honours on the boys side of the draw. The hosts reached Saturday night's final before falling 76-67 to the Valleyview Vikings of Kamloops. Steveston-London opened with a 72-47 win over the South Delta Sun Devils, then outlasted St. Johns Eagles of Vancouver, 75-63. A trio of Sharks were named to the All-
Tournament Team - Nigel Boyd, Taros Johal and Ibrahim Warsame.
Hugh Boyd settled for fourth place after a 54-43 win against Prince of Wales to close out the tournament. The Trojans' title hopes ended with a 67-53 opening round loss to NorKam. They bounced back with a 53-35 win over John Oliver. Caleb Ritchie was selected to the all-star team, while Valleyview's Layton Demidoff was named the boys' MVP.
Over $1,000 was raised over the weekend for the Carkner scholarship fund.
