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Top-ranked Hawks clinch provincial berth

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The W.J. Mouat senior girls basketball team clinched a trip to the provincial AAA championships with a dominant 69-38 victory over Elgin Park of Surrey in Fraser Valley Tournament quarter-final action on Tuesday.Hawks coach Paula Thompson said it was perhaps her team's best performance of the season. And that's saying something, considering Mouat is ranked No. 1 in B.C."Defensively, the girls were amazing," Thompson enthused. "Elgin Park played kind of a funny zone on us, and it took us a while to adjust to that. But we played such amazing defence, we had as much time as we needed to figure it out. Once we did, we were unstoppable."Mouat's drive for a provincial berth wasn't without a bit of drama. Star forward Kayli Sartori suffered a bruised knee in Monday's 66-41 first-round win over No. 16 seed Walnut Grove. But she was good to go for Tuesday's date with Elgin Park, and scored 19 points.Katie Brink also had a big game for the Hawks. She scored a team-high 20 points, and was instrumental in helping limit Orcas star Stacey Graham to 13 points.Mouat hosts the balance of the Fraser Valley Tournament, Thursday through Saturday. The Hawks face Maple Ridge in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday, and the second semi of the night pits Brookswood (Langley) and Riverside (Coquitlam) at 7:45 p.m. The final is Saturday at 4:30 p.m.The Yale Lions senior girls are still alive in their quest for a provincial berth. The 10th-seeded Lions pulled off the lone upset of the opening round, edging No. 7 Panorama Ridge of Surrey 52-51 on Monday. They fell 80-54 to No. 2 Brookswood in Tuesday's quarter-finals, and face Gleneagle at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in a bid to extend their season."We had a really good showing on Monday," Lions coach Euan Roberts said. "We played very well against a tough team. We controlled the pace of the game."