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Wildcats and Sharks to meet again Monday

Four days after senior girls city championship game rivals to face each other in Lower Mainland AAA quarter-finals
basketball
Steveston-London's Shir Dayan is guarded by McMath's Caitlin Kippan in Thursday's Richmond Senior Girls Championship game. Kippan had 23 points in her team's win while Dayan scored 31 Saturday to lead the Sharks past Burnaby Central to open play at the Crehan Cup Lower Mainland AAA Championships.

The top two teams in Richmond Senior Girls Basketball will meet again — this time at the Crehan Cup Lower Mainland AAA Championships.

Just four days after squaring off at Burnett Secondary School for the city title, the McMath Wildcats and Steveston-London will play on Monday afternoon (3:15 p.m.) at Argyle Secondary School in North Vancouver in quarter-final action.

The Sharks earned a date with the tournament’s top seed after a 78-65 win over the Burnaby Central Wildcats on Saturday.

Guard Shir Dayan led the way with an outstanding game — scoring 31 points including six three-pointers. Mina Chong chipped in with 19 and Sharlene Siy 13.

The Sharks were seeded ninth for the 12-team double knockout event after finishing second in the Richmond playoffs, following a 77-58 loss to the Wildcats. 

McMath coach Chris Kennedy was well aware of the potential rematch just moments after his team winning its sixth straight city title.

“There is only so many times you like seeing a team over and over again. It’s not an ideal match-up for us,” said Kennedy. I’d rather see some teams we haven’t seen as much. Unfortunately, they just didn’t play enough of the other teams during the season to get a better seed.”

McMath defeated the Sharks 60-44 in regular season play in early December and also in the final of last month’s Bob Carkner Memorial Classic, 92-69.

The story of the last two meetings was McMath’s production from Grade 8 standouts Marina Radocaj and Caitlin Kippan. They combined for 48 points and 31 rebounds in the Carkner Classic and added 38 points and 35 boards in the city final. 

The winner will advance to Thursday’s semi-final to take on Killarney or Burnaby South when the tournament shifts to Lord Byng Secondary in Vancouver. 

The loser will face Burnaby Mountain Wednesday with an opportunity to battle its way back into contention for one of three guaranteed berths into the B.C. AAA Championships at the Langley Events Centre.

The final goes on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

It will be the final time the Crehan Cup is contested with new zones and an additional 4A tier being introduced for the 2019-20 season. Richmond will be part of a zone that includes Surrey and Delta schools. 

The 4A tier will be for schools with 263 or more female students in Grades 11-12.