Led by the dominant duo of Jaeli Ibbetson and Kennedy Dickie, the Kelowna Owls will play for gold today at the UFV Cascade Classic senior girls basketball tournament in Abbotsford.
The Owls, defending B.C. School Sports AAA champions and the No. 1-ranked team in the province going into this weekend’s action, will play No. 3-seed Semiahmoo Totems in the final of the 16-team event beginning at 2:15 p.m.
A 79-56 victory over the Okanagan Mission Huskies in semifinal play on Friday earned the Owls their berth in the championship game against Semiahmoo of Surrey, who advanced to the final by defeating the South Kamloops Titans 92-60 in their semifinal.
Today's final will see the Owls going up against a young and tall team that includes three players who were part of Team BC when it won a national U15 championship in August and 6'6" Faith Dut, who signed with the NCAA Florida Gators.
The Owls will need to maintain the composure and solid team defence they've shown during the first two days in Abbotsford and keep on getting the ball to Dickie and Ibbetson, while hitting outside shots.
Ibbetson, a tournament all-star in the BCSS provincial championship in March, scored 36 points in the semifinal win over OKM while Dickie, also a provincial all-star in the 2018 championship tourney and the MVP in the title match, added 28 points.
Earlier in the day, the Owls downed Langley Christian 86-48 in quarter-final play, with Ibbetson netting 28 points and Dickie and Rylee Semeniuk each contributing 15.
With six players returning from last season’s championship team, the Owls’ experience proved too much for the young Huskies team playing in its first season at the AAA level. KSS led 21-15 at the quarter, 42-24 at the half and 62-40 going into the final frame.
Grade 10 Lily Pink paced provincial honourable-mention OKM with 16 points while Grade 12 Jenna Robinson added 11 in a game that came on the heels of wins over No. 7-ranked Abbotsford Panthers (83-78) and honourable-mention MEI of Abbotsford (75-45).
Pink earned player-of-the-game status on the strength of her 23 points, nine rebounds and five steals while Robinson chipped in with 15 points six assists and eight steals. Makenna Jacklin finished with 10 points and five boards and Melaina Corrado was good for eight points, six assists and six steals.
The Huskies will play for the bronze against South Kamloops beginning at 12:30 p.m. today.
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