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This Prince George basketball program is second-best in Canada

Northern Bounce U17 All-Stars took home silver from national club championship
Kyle Balzer
Kyle Balzer

Rising high school hoops stars in Prince George were on the national stage over the B.C. Day long weekend.

The 2019 Canadian Club Basketball Championships saw the Northern Bounce program reach the finals of the Under-18 All-Star division, going undefeated at 6-0 before the championship clash with Machoops (Richmond, B.C.).

Despite putting up a fight to come back in the second half, the team, made in entirely of kids under the age of 17, fell short of a gold medal and claimed silver instead with a 68-50 loss on B.C. Day Monday (Aug. 5).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

What a great weekend of basketball for our Northern Bounce program down at BBall Nationals @bballnationals !!! 6 teams were sent down to play in 30+ games of basketball! Our boys competed hard and had a great experience at the tournament! We are all about the process at Northern Bounce and our program continues to show signs of growth from practice to practice, game to game, tournament to tournament and season to season. Congrats to all our Northern Bounce players and coaches who have put in a tremendous amount of time this year, and years leading up to this, to get our program to new heights! 3 years in and our U17 team has reached the finals! The game did not go the way we wanted but going 6-1 and reaching the championship game, for a group of kids that have been with us since the beginning, is all the proof we need that we are heading in the right direction. We are looking forward to staying the course and bringing home the ship in the near future!

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Jordan Yu’s club outscored their opponents 428-363 at the tournament in Langley, which included a single-point victory over Machoops.

They cruised into the finals with a 72-50 semi-final win over Rock Elite of Newfoundland.

The Northern Bounce Under-17 team’s round-robin results are as follows:

  • 51-43 win over Dawson Creek Wildcats
  • 70-63 win over Westshore Dawgs
  • 64-21 win over F.O.R.M. Basketball Academy
  • 70-68 win over 604 Basketball
  • 51-50 win over Machoops

The ‘Red’ squad beat out 10 other teams, including their brother-team ‘White’ that went 2-3 in pool play, to reach the title game.

Northern Bounce had four other teams on the boy’s side of the tournament and collectively had three wins.

  • 1-2 = Under-16 All-Stars
  • 1-5 = Under-16 Elite
  • 1-2 = Under-14 All-Stars
  • 0-3 = Under-13 All-Stars
Reign Basketball Under-17 teamPrince George's Reign Girls Basketball program competed at the 2019 Canadian Club Championships in Langley (via Craig Douglass)

Prince George also had a girls' team at the Canadian Club Championships.

Reign Basketball competed in the Under-17 All-Stars division led by coach Craig Douglass, going 1-4 and finishing in fifth place.

Their group-stage games are as follows:

  • 47-40 loss to Triple Threat Black (Vancouver)
  • 67-29 loss to VK Basketball (North Vancouver)
  • 59-32 win over Vancouver United
  • 43-28 loss to Jabogs (Coquitlam)
  • 62-44 loss to Kamloops Stormers

“We want to be competitive, that’s the big thing. If we’re competitive in every game, then we’re all getting better,” Douglass said in an interview with B.C. Sports Hub, adding he hopes to bring more teams from the program to the 2020 tournament.