The Mennonite Educational Institute junior girls basketball team won a bronze medal at the B.C.'s, marking the top local result on a busy weekend of provincial hoops action.
The Eagles, who won the Fraser Valley title two weeks ago, knocked off St. Thomas Aquinas of North Vancouver 51-39 in the third-place game at the junior girls provincials, held at the Langley Events Centre.
Eagles forward Taylor Claggett led the charge with 30 points and 10 rebounds, and was named a first team tournament all-star. Tessa Ratzlaff was a second-teamer, while point guard Grace Tadrous notched 16 points and four steals in the bronze medal game.
In other junior girls action, the W.J. Mouat Hawks finished seventh, beating local rival Brookswood of Langley 62-44 in the seventh/eighth placing game. Amanda Thompson was named a second team all-star.
The MEI junior boys finished seventh at their B.C. tourney, held at Vancouver College. The Eagles dropped their opener 62-50 to Kitsilano, but bounced back to win their next three games, capped by a 60-55 win over D.P. Todd in the seventh/ninth placing game. Tony Hao led MEI in scoring in each of the four games, highlighted by a 25-point outing vs. D.P. Todd.
SENIOR AAA GIRLS: The Yale Lions senior girls, making their first appearance at AAA provincials in two decades, turned in a solid sixth-place finish.
The Lions opened with a dominant 72-36 win over New Westminster on Wednesday. But they saw their title hopes snuffed in the quarter-finals on Thursday, as they fell 71-50 to Brookswood, despite 15 points from Sara Kurath.
The Yaleans got 19 points from Hailey Kendall in a 67-59 loss to Claremont of Victoria on the consolation side on Friday, but bounced back for an 80-68 win over Argyle of North Vancouver in the sixth/ninth placing game. Yale point guard Kendra Arnold led the way with 18 points in the win over Argyle, and she was named a second team tournament all-star.
SENIOR AA: Both the boys and girls senior AA provincials were held in Kamloops, and a 10th-place finish by the Abbotsford Christian Knights girls represented the best local result.
The Knights went 2-2 at the B.C.'s, finishing up with a hard-fought 52-50 loss to St. Michael's of Victoria in the ninth/tenth placing game. Canelle Steenkamp (13 points) and Renee Bomhof (12) led the offence in the finale.
The Abby Collegiate girls went 1-3 to end up 15th. They won their last game 70-51 over Charles Hays of Prince Rupert, behind 27 points from Brittney Larson and 18 points from Tiffany Picketts.
The Abby Christian boys finished 13th, beating Sa-Hali 74-54 in their last game of the season, as Tylan Postma, Matt Burnett and Trevor Dykshoorn tied for team-high scoring honours with 14 points.
GRADE 9: The Bateman Timberwolves came into the Grade 9 tourney at Kitsilano Secondary in Vancouver ranked 15th, and they exceeded their seeding by finishing 14th. With Iqbal Grewal leading the way in the scoring department, the T-Wolves went 1-3.
GRADE 8: At the Grade 8 boys and girls provincials at Pitt Meadows, the W.A. Fraser Falcons girls notched a fifth-place finish.
The Fraser Valley champs went 3-1, with their lone loss coming in the quarter-finals to eventual silver medallist Handsworth of North Vancouver. Jade Bird was named a second team tournament all-star.
On the boys side, the Clayburn Cougars and Fraser Falcons finished 10th and 11th, respectively. Both teams went 2-2.