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.
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.”
“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.
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.
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.
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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