Photo Credit/Cover Design: Lorne White/KelownaNow
The Kelowna Owls and Okanagan Mission Huskies have advanced to the Sweet 16 portion of the Tsumura Basketball Invitational today in Langley.
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Victories over Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers and Argyle Pipers respectively on Thursday earned the Kelowna high school teams a berth in the quarter-finals at the Langley Events Centre.
Photo Credit: Lorne White/KelownaNowShiah Holmes led the Owls in their opening game at the Tsumura Basketball Invitational, scoring 21 points against Lord Tweedsmuir.The Owls, the No 7-ranked Quad A team in the province and fresh off a 93-30 win over the Mt. Boucherie Bears in West Kelowna on Tuesday, had a more difficult time against the province’s No. 10 Panthers of Surrey, but still prevailed 76-66.
Kelowna Secondary School head coach, Darren Sememiuk, conceded to Howard Tsumura of Varsity Letters and the tournament namesake that his team is still “figuring it out right now.”
Photo Credit: Lorne White/KelownaNowThe Owls' Katerina Fink scored 18 points in the Owls' regular-season win over Mt. Boucherie this week. On the right is the Bears' Merce Juncosa. “We’re trying to see who is going to grab the roles — carry some of the scoring and be on the floor in critical situations. It’s fun and it’s exciting, but as I just told the girls, it’s also a little confusing in that right now, I don’t know who should be on the floor.”
The Owls will meet No. 3-ranked (AAA) R.A. Wildcats of Richmond in a quarter-final matchup beginning at noon today.
Photo Credit: Lorne White/KelownaNowGrade 12 Rylee Semeniuk, here defending against Mt. Boucherie's Gracey Larsen, will be relied upon as a leader for the 2019-20 Owls.Grade 11 forward Shiah Holmes led the Owls with a 21-point performance against Lord Tweedsmuir while Kassidy Day contributed 14 to go along with Rylee Semeniuk’s 12 points, all coming from behind the three-point arc.
On Tuesday, Katrina Fink was the top marksman with 18 points against Boucherie. Semeniuk, Holmes and Nicole Torozan all finished with 11.
Photo Credit: Lorne White/KelownaNowMelaina Corrado scored 17 points in the OKM Huskies win over Argyle on Thursday.Meanwhile, the OKM Huskies, returning to the Fraser Valley after winning three of four games at a tournament in Abbotsford a week earlier, once again showed they are a cohesive unit early in the season.
Ranked No. 1 among AAA teams, the Huskies handled No. 4 (AAA) Argyle of North Vancouver 70-52 in their opener.
Photo Credit: Lorne White/KelownaNowLily Pink matched Corrado's performance to help lead the Huskies in their tournament opener.Meghan Faust, the Huskies head coach, was pleased with the performance of her team that was scheduled to play the Walnut Grove Gators of Langley (No. 3 Quad A) in quarter-final play at 9 a.m. today.
“We have the kind of girls who want to outwork everyone we play, and so they love the challenge,” Faust told Tsumura after Thursday’s game. “I’ve never had a group that clicked like this right off the top.”
UBC Okanagan-bound Melaina Corrado and Grade 11 Lily Pink both scored 17 points against Argyle while Grade 10 Elana Corrado chipped in with 11.
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