Rutland knocks off KSS to capture Valley title, advance to provincials
The Rutland Voodoos overcame some early-season adversity to emerge as Valley champions in senior boys’ basketball.
In the Valley final, the Voodoos defeated the defending champion Kelowna (KSS) Owls, prevailing 78-65 in a wire-to-wire win.
The Owls had been undefeated in league play with a record of 8-0, but the Voodoos got off to a quick start in getting out to an early 16-1 lead.
The Owls pushed back, cutting the deficit to 24-12 after the first quarters. But the Voodoos continued to play well in the second frame and held a 38-25 halftime lead.
The teams went on to swap baskets in the third quarter, with Rutland maintaining a 61-40 lead.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Owls made another push but wound up losing by 13 points.
The leading scorers for Rutland were Eric Wambacher (17), Isaac Young (14), Prabhtej Deol (11) and Arjan Thouli (9).
KSS was led by Hunter Simpson (16), Kieren Chalmers (12) and Parker Johnstone (11).
Johnstone and Simpson from the Owls were named to the tournament All-Star team, along with Young and Wambacher from the Voodoos.
Rutland’s Marcus Strother earned the MVP honours.
“I have never seen so many players diving for balls and making the extra effort to get the win,” said Voodoos head coach Jeff Balkenhol. “I can’t even tell you how proud Josh Dorf, Brian Wambacher and myself are of this amazing group of young men that we have coached this season.”
“The job is not done,” Balkenhol added. “We will now prepare for the 4A provincials March 7-10 in Langley.”
Balkenhol also noted that “this has been a long time coming for RSS. You have to go back to 1977 and the team consisting of Ken Anderson, Dave Leadbetter and Bob Osbourne. The 1977 Voodoos won Valleys and still hold the highest-ever score at the Western Canada Tournament with 115 points in the final to win it.”
These Voodoos didn’t put up those kind of gaudy numbers, but they were impressive in also beating the host Salmon Arm Golds 70-57 in the Valley semifinal.
Rutland again led from start to finish in that tournament opener, jumping out to a 14-4 lead and going into the dressing room ahead 41-24 at the half.
Against Salmon Arm, the Voodoos were led by Brandon Porter and Robin Loney, with 15 points each, Strother (14), Young (11), Wambacher (9) and Tanner Balkenhol (7), while five other players also reached the scoresheet for Rutland.
However, the season wasn’t smooth sailing from the outset. Early on, Rutland had a 1-4 record, including two league losses to Pen-Hi and KSS.
At mid-season, Rutland had rallied to a 5-4 record, including tournament and league play.
After the Christmas Break, the Voodoos took off in posting a record of 12-2, including back-to-back tournament victories prior to Valleys — winning the Salmon Arm Tournament and their home event, the Okanagan Hardcourt Classic, at RSS.
Rutland’s only league loss was to KSS on Jan. 30, putting the Voodoos in second place heading into the Valley Championship.
Rutland avenged that loss in emphatic fashion with the Valley title on the line.