Tricky Dickie helps Owls crack Walnut Grove in triple-A girls’ hoops final
This time, one out of three was perfect for the Kelowna Owls.
The top-seeded Owls, who lost their two previous meetings this season to the No. 3 Walnut Grove Gators, beat them 67-61 Saturday in the triple-A girls’ basketball provincial final before a crowd of about 2,000 at the Langley Events Centre.
The Langley-based Gators cut the Owls’ lead to 35-34 early in the third quarter, and that’s where Grade 11 KSS forward Kennedy Dickie took over. She scored eight straight points in 55 seconds to put the Owls up 43-34, and wound up with 16 points in the quarter to help the Owls carry a 56-43 lead into the fourth quarter.
It had public address announcer Fred Rannard calling, “And it’s Dickie, again.”
Walnut Grove got it to 59-55 with 4:40 remaining on a Sophia Wisotzki three-pointer, but that’s as close as they would come.
Walnut Gove beat Kelowna 84-75 at the MEI Invitational tournament in mid-January, then came away with an 83-64 win over the Owls at the Centennial top-10 tournament later in the month.
Walnut Grove was the No. 1-ranked team in the province going into the playoffs, but lost 90-78 to the then-No. 3-ranked Abbotsford Panthers in the Fraser Valley final. That caused the shuffle at the top for the provincials, with Kelowna, who were ranked No. 2, getting bumped up.
Walnut Grove gained a measure of revenge against Abbotsford in the semifinals on Friday at the LEC, beating the provincials’ No. 2 seed by a 88-71 count. Kelowna downed the upstart Semiahmoo Totems 81-59 Friday.
Saturday’s contest featured two of the province’s best players in Kelowna point Taya Hanson and Walnut Grove point guard Tavia Rowell.
Hanson, a Grade 12 committed to Arizona State University for next season, finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. She was later named the tournament’s most valuable player.
Rowell, a Grade 11, had 19 points. She had sprained her ankle in the tournament opener and seemed to have trouble moving the first couple of days of the event, but she appeared to be in top form for Saturday and in Friday’s win over Abbotsford, when she put up 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Dickie finished Saturday with 21 points and was named the player of the game for the championship contest.
Wisotzki, who’s only in Grade 9, was named the tournament’s outstanding defensive player. She was assigned to mark Hanson much of the final, but wound up with 16 points.
Walnut Grove’s Grade 12 forward Natalie Rathler finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds.
Walnut Grove had 29 turnovers, compared to 14 for Kelowna.
Walnut Grove’s junior team won its provincial title earlier in the day, with a 61-54 decision over the Fraser Heights Firehawks, and that possibly spurred on the Gators in the main event, as they got out to a 16-6 lead and had a 20-11 margin going into the second quarter.
Kelowna rallied in the second and took a 35-30 margin into the halftime intermission. Hanson had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists at the break.
Abbotsford, Kelowna and Walnut Grove, respectively, had the top three spots in the pre-season rankings. Abbotsford beat Semiahmoo by an 82-74 count in the third-place game earlier Saturday.
Walnut Grove and Kelowna have met in the last two quad-A boys’ basketball provincial finals, each winning once.
This year’s quad-A boys’ tournament goes next week at the LEC.