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Two Prince George basketball teams land top-10 finishes at senior, junior girls provincials

Duchess Park and College Heights rise up in rankings, Senior Boys up next on the court
Kyle Balzer
Kyle Balzer

The province’s best high school girls basketball teams were in Langley this past weekend and a pair of Prince George programs were able to climb to higher ranking from where they started.

Duchess Park went from ninth to eighth place in the 2020 BC Senior Girls AAA Championships, while College Heights claimed 10th place in Junior Girls action, jumping up five spots from their initial 15th seed.

The Condors and Cougars were two of four teams representing the north-central region in their respective tournaments, including the Duchess Park junior girls and Prince George Secondary senior girls.

Here’s a breakdown of each team’s results:

PRINCE GEORGE POLARS (Sr. Girls AAAA)

PGSS were the 16th-ranked team to start the 16-team tournament and that’s exactly where they finished as well after failing to find a win in Langley.

DUCHESS PARK CONDORS (Sr. Girls AAA)

The reigning Prince George city champions of seven straight years won their first game to reach the quarter-finals, but were relegated to the lower-half of the top-eight after losing to number-one Abbotsford Senior Panthers.

COLLEGE HEIGHTS COUGARS (Jr. Girls)

CHSS conjured up two wins in five games to reach the top 10 in their category, making the final of the showcase bracket Saturday (Feb. 29) on centre court.

DUCHESS PARK CONDORS (Jr. Girls)

Initially ranked 23rd at the 24-team event, the junior Condors struggled last week to find a victory with the closest game decided by 13 points.

And now, it’s the boys’ turn.

The BC Senior Boys’ Basketball Championships take place March 4 to 7 in Langley as well with four Prince George schools in contention as well.

All eyes will be on the Duchess Park Condors, who are the top seed going into AAA provincials and looking to avenge last year’s semi-final heartbreak.

A three-point bucket in the dying seconds by North Delta sent the Huskies to the championship final, ultimately winning the 2019 blue banner over Vernon.

DPSS won the bronze-medal match 75-54 over A.R. MacNeill (Richmond) but now have a chance to take the school’s first B.C. AAA title in 40 years, if all goes well.

The Condors won the 2006 provincial basketball championship, but at the AA level.

They start the 2020 tournament on Wednesday (March 4), 8:30 a.m. against Courtenay’s Mark R. Isfeld Secondary.

Meanwhile, PGSS will have some grunt work ahead of them in climbing to the top of BC AAAA basketball provincials as the 15th-ranked team.

The North Central Zone champions of the same level will face the number-two Centennial Centaurs on Wednesday at 7:45 p.m.

The D.P. Todd Trojans were ranked second in 2019, but were upset by George Elliot (Lake Country) in the quarter-finals, eventually ending up seventh in the AA tournament.

That’s exactly where they’ll start this year, tipping off with West Vancouver’s Mulgrave Secondary on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.

As for Cedars Christian, they’re seeded in the middle of the pack in the ninth placing and will square up with Gudangaay Tlaats'gaa Naay (Masset) to start the B.C. Single-A Championships Wednesday at 7:45 p.m.

The Eagles finished eighth last year, but started in seventh before losing in the quarter-finals to Kelowna Christian.