Panthers capture first title in 15 years

The hometown and No. 1-ranked Abbotsford Panthers topped the No. 4-ranked Fleetwood Park Dragons of Surrey 82-67 in Saturday’s Fraser Valley Triple A boys basketball championship final, played at Columbia Bible College.

“We were talking about it as a team beforehand and when I said we hadn’t won the Fraser Valley title since 1998, one of the players said, ‘That’s the year that I was born,’” said Abby head coach Prentice Lenz, the former SFU standout. “We had a great laugh, but there has been a lot of hard work that has gone into this, and we feel good about what we’ve done.”

Grade 10 forward Chase Claypool led the winners with 18 points, while Luke Tomkins added 14, and tournament MVP Jamie Konrad dunked for 12. “They were the better team and they really came out and shot it well,” said Fleetwood head coach Nick Day of the Panthers.

Unheralded Maple Ridge, the third-place finisher in the East division, beat its crosstown rival Samuel Robertson Titans 47-39 in the bronze final. All four teams have qualified for the provincials.

In the Quad A final, Parm Bains of No. 1-ranked Tamanawis hit a three with 2.6 seconds remaining to force overtime against Coquitlam’s Gleneagle Talons, the score tied 75-75 at press deadlines.

(For the final result, look for the High School icon at provincesports.com.)

In the third-place game, the No. 5 Walnut Grove Gators topped the No. 3 Holy Cross Crusaders 66-65, as Jadon Cohee scored 32 points for the winners. Tyler Anderson scored 15 more for the Gators, while Jonathan Kongbo scored 18 of his team-high 28 in the second half for the Crusaders

In the fifth-place game, the No. 6 Sardis Falcons built a 30-11 lead in the first quarter and rolled past the No. 9 Pitt Meadows Marauders 99-70. Hayden Lejeune led the Falcons with 22 points while Cam Servatius and Eric Rogers each scored 21. Graham Smith scored a game-high 27 in the loss for the Marauders.

All six teams have qualified for the B.C. championships.