After a pair of one-point losses to the Duchess Park Condors, the PGSS Polars finally beat their biggest rival. And they did it in the most important game of the season to date.
Playing on their home floor on Saturday, the Polars defeated the Condors 42-31 in the championship game of the junior girls basketball zone tournament. With the win, PGSS clinched the first north central berth in provincials.
Later in the day, the Condors held off the Cedars Christian School Eagles 35-27 and secured the second berth. The 16-team provincial championship tournament will be held March 10-12 at W.J. Mouat secondary in Abbotsford.
In the PGSS-Duchess clash, the Polars outscored the Condors 17-5 in the second quarter, which put the hosts into a 24-10 lead. The Condors were back in form in the third and fourth quarters but weren't able to catch up.
In the district championship tournament two weekends ago, the Condors edged the Polars 41-40. Earlier in the season, at a College Heights gathering, Duchess and PGSS went to triple overtime before Duchess grabbed a 45-44 decision.
"We wanted [the Saturday win] really bad," said Jill Cole, a Grade 10 Polars guard who was picked as the most valuable player of zones. "We didn't want to play another game in the afternoon so we just took it to them. We were hot from outside and tried to get it inside. We just went on a run and kept it up.
"We knew that we were going to come across [the Condors] in the zone final and we knew that was when it mattered," Cole added. "All the times we lost to them during the year, [coach Ray] Bourque said, 'It's OK, it's just a learning experience, we'll beat them when it counts,' and we did."
Sukhpreet Buttar scored 14 points for the Polars and Cole had 10. Cassie Rerick, with 17 points, led the Duchess attack.
PGSS had not won the junior girls basketball zone title in recent memory. The trophy dates back to 1986 and the Polars didn't have a plaque on it.
In the provincial-qualifying game between Duchess and Cedars, the Condors led 20-4 at half-time and saw the Eagles come on strong in the last two quarters. Fortunately for the Condors, their first-half cushion was big enough that they survived the valiant comeback attempt.
"[The Eagles] threw on a press that had our girls a little bit flustered but they made some good baskets down the stretch, and our rebounding and defence was really strong throughout the whole game," said Condors coach Natasha Cruz. "Our girls really came through."
Members of the first all-star team were Buttar, Rerick, Kelsey Videgain (PGSS), Carly Shaw-MacLaren (Duchess Park) and Karysa Church (Cedars). Issy Bourque of the Polars won the award for top defensive player.
