[From top to bottom] Duchess Park, D.P. Todd, and Cedars Christian all qualified for the 2019 Senior Boys Basketball provincials (via School District 57/Kyle Balzer)They only led for six and a half minutes during the game, but that’s all that was needed for a Prince George high school to win Thursday night (March 8).
The Duchess Park (DPSS) Seniors Boys basketball team advance to tonight’s first semi-final at the 2019 B.C. 3A Provincial Championships, defeating the G.W. Graham Grizzlies by a score of 72-64.
Regardless of what happens next, the fourth-ranked Condors will play for a medal at the 16-team tournament.
Sorren Erricson was the top-scorer for DPSS and in the final quarter-final game of Day Two, bucketing 25 points, including four three-pointers, and nabbing eight rebounds.
Dan Zimmerman was sharp, making six of 14 shots from field-goal range while also providing the most assists in the contest with five.
Another dominant board player for DPSS was Emir Zeinulahovic, compiling 14 rebounds, 10 on defence alone, for the most of any player on the court.
The Condors were down 39-29 at the half, but went on a 43-25 stint to run out the Grizzlies.
.@DPSSCondors clinch semi-final appearance & are one step closer to a Provincial title, edging out @GWGAthletics 72-64 in Thursday’s QF match 🏀 They’ll face #9 @north_delta, who wrangled another upset by knocking off top-seeded Sir Charles Tupper | #CityOfPG #SD57 @PGMatters https://t.co/Df1Tjis5fA
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) March 8, 2019
Duchess Park may even have a good chance of reaching the finals as their opponent is the ninth-ranked North Delta Secondary.
While the ranking may be a decent-sized gap, the Huskies have already pulled off two upsets in the 3A provincial bracket, including eliminating the number-one overall seed Sir Charles Tupper 74-67 in the third quarter-final match.
On Day One, they beat the number-eight seed Byrne Creek Secondary with authority; the final score was 74-48.
So, if DPSS wins this evening, 5:15 p.m. tip-off in Langley, they will play for the title on Saturday (March 9); if they lose, it’ll be a bronze medal match appearance against the loser of the A.R. MacNeill/Vernon semi-final.
Meanwhile, the other two Prince George schools, D.P. Todd and Cedars Christian, both lost in their respective provincial quarter-finals.
The best the Trojans and Eagles can finish is fifth place in the 2A and 1A tournaments, but they must win two more games each to accomplish that feat.
.@dptstrojans unfortunately lost their QF game Thursday by a 28-point margin to George Elliot 🏀 Best they can finish is 5th in the 2A Provincial division; they’ll need to beat Langley Christian today for a shot at that final ranking | #CityOfPG #SD57 @PGMatters https://t.co/dbOKK4AdjB
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) March 8, 2019
.@CedarsChristian Eagles were grounded Thursday night, 77-43 by @KCS_Kelowna in their 1A QF game, meaning they too can only finish as high as 5th place 🏀 To get to that 5th/6th match, they must defeat @Similkameen53 tonight | #CityOfPG #SD57 @PGMatters https://t.co/uEjrYSilQx
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) March 8, 2019
