Missing link reveals improved depth for KSS Owls in Langley

Thanks to Kennedy Dickie missing the Tsumura Basketball Invitational, the Kelowna Owls matured as a team on the weekend in Langley.

Not that the defending B.C. School Sports AAA girls champions couldn’t have used the standout forward’s leadership and considerable talents, but without Dickie in the lineup, coach Darren Semeniuk was able to get a good look at what the rest of his lineup could do against some of the best teams in the province.

Very well . . . as it turned out.

With Dickie being among 57 athletes from across the country participating in the Basketball Canada women’s national age-group assessment camps in Toronto, the shorthanded provincially No. 3-ranked Owls opened the 16-team TBI with wins over unranked Fraser Heights Firehawks of Surrey (85-30) and No. 10- ranked (AAA) Abbotsford Panthers (73-50) before dropping an 86-77 decision to No. 2 (AAA) Riverside Rapids of Port Coquitlam and falling 92-87 to No. 5 Brookswood Bobcats of Langley in the third/fourth-place game.

Everyone got on the floor and nearly all made marks on the scoresheet in the opener against Fraser Heights, but only Jaeli Ibbetson, one half of the dynamic duo returning from the 2018 B.C. championship team, hit double figures, finishing with 28 points.

Against Abbotsford, Ibbetson again led the way with 22 points, while Japleen Chahal, last year’s junior-team standout, contributed 22 points that included four from beyond. Kassidy Day, also a Grade 11, hit three treys and finished with 11 points against a competitive Panthers group.

Missing too many shots and turning over the ball too often, the Owls, the only team in the final four missing a play due to national tryouts, fell behind early against Riverside (24-11 at the quarter), but pulled together to win the final three quarters in a hard-fought loss against a team that had won a high-profile tournament at the University of Victoria a week earlier.

Ibbetson’s 27 points led the Owls while Grade 11s Rylee Semeniuk, Nicole Torozan and Kassidy Day added 13, 12 and 10 points respectively.

In the Owls’ second game on Saturday, Ibbetson hit for 32 points in a losing cause while Torozan chipped in with 12 to go along with Semeniuk’s 10.

Up next for the Black and Gold is an Okanagan Valley league matchup on Wednesday against the Rutland Voodoos beginning at 6 p.m. at KSS. Their next tournament is scheduled for South Kamloops Jan. 11-12.