Shas Ti Kelly Road girls get job done at zones
The Shas Ti Kelly Road Grizzlies ended a 31-year championship drought last Saturday when they defeated the Nechako Valley Vikings of Vanderhoof 73-61. Combined with their 62-60 win over the Vikings Friday night in Vanderhoof, the Grizzlies swept the best-ofthree series 2-0 and will represent their zone at the double-A provincial championship in Langley, March 2-5.
“This is so exciting, it was a really great set of games and it was a great team to play against, they played really well and we really had to work for it,” said Grizzlies guard Breanna Skelly.
Unlike the first game when they had to come back from a five-point halftime deficit, the Grizzlies took over the lead early, building 22-12 edge in the first quarter, and stayed ahead for the rest of the game.
“I’m super-excited, I’m really proud of everyone on our team,” said Grizzlies senior guard Jenny Graham-Smith. “We have a couple of first-year players and we haven’t had a super-developed sports program like some other schools in Prince George, so I’m really hoping this is the start of something good for our school.
Graham-Smith spiced the Grizzlies
offence with a game-high 26 points. MVP Breanna Day hit for 10 points and was a buzzsaw hauling in rebounds and creating turnovers, while Maria Sampson also had a standout effort with an eight-point game.
“This game, we willed it to happen,” said Graham-Smith. “We want to go to provincials. It was so nice to have the crowd again. It’s so different to have that
support, when you make a basket and the crowd goes crazy, it’s so much more uplifting because even if you’re in a rut, the crowd is with you.”
Aside from the city league games and only a couple of tournaments, the Grizzlies haven’t had a chance to go on any extended trips like the one they’ve now guaranteed themselves with their zone title.
COLLEGE HEIGHTS GIRLS PUMPED FOR PROVINCIALS
Rachel Loukes, a Grade 11 guard whose off-the-charts basketball abilities will have her playing this year with B.C’s provincial U-18 team, led the College Heights Cougars to a 106-49 win over Duchess Park in her team’s final game of the season on a Prince George soil.
“I was just so happy with how we played throughout the game and it was kind of like all our hard work paid off in that moment,” said Loukes the tournament MVP.
College Heights will represent North Central in the 16-team triple-A provincial championship, March 2-5 in Langley. Duchess Park claimed the second provincial berth, as a result of their 54-32 playoff win over Correlieu.
“I’m just really looking forward to provincials,” said Loukes, whose Cougars are ranked fifth in B.C.
JUNIOR GIRLS ZONES
Meanwhile, in the junior A girls zone championship also at Duchess Park, the Duchess Park Condors topped the College Heights Cougars 26-23 in the B-final Saturday. The Condors will join the zone-champion Sir Alexander Mackenzie Grizzlies of Hagensborg at the junior A provincials. The Grizzlies defeated Duchess 47-22 for the zone final Friday.