The Similkameen Sparks Sr. Girls Basketball team took home 6th place at the 2017 Provincial ‘A’ Championships in Duncan B.C.
The senior girls, who played with some of ‘the most tenacious defense’ that coaches at the tournament had ever seen, battled hard for their success as the top single ‘A’ public school in the province and 6th overall.
Their style of basketball this year was fast and aggressive; a style borne from athletes who, for most of the team, basketball is not their top sport.
Similkameen made up for their small size with incredibly aggressive defense and explosive speed on offense.
In their first game against Pacific Christian they won the game 80-75 which put them on the right side of the bracket. The second game the girls played was against Credo Christian. They played hard but lost to Credo who ended up being the Provincial Champions.
Being a team that enjoyed giving their young coaches premature greys, the girls climbed back from a 20-point deficit in their third game against the Pemberton Red Devils to win by nine. A couple of back to back three pointers in the fourth quarter, followed by tenacious defensive stops and quick fast break points lead to their 63-54 win. This secured their place as the top public school for single ‘A’ basketball in the Province.
The Sparks played their last game of the tournament for 5th and 6th against the Surrey Christian Falcons. The girls played incredibly tough and aggressive defense which had us in the lead for the first three quarters. Foul trouble in the fourth lost us four players and we ended up losing 55-61. The Sr. Girls played an amazing last game of basketball this year and proved that the tenacity and quickness that they played with all year was a force to be reckoned with at the 2017 Provincial Championships.
The success of our girls this year was made possible with the amazing generosity of the communities of Keremeos and Cawston. The donations and support that poured in from the community when we announced we had made it to the ‘A’ Provincial Championships gave us the pride to do our very best to represent the Similkameen Valley.
We extend our deepest thanks and gratitude to all of the following businesses and individuals that helped us get to provincials and the endless support that we felt from the community:
KGI Industries, Greg and Tuesday McDonald, Royal Purple Hearts, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 192, Similkameen Industries, T.L. Timber, Lower Similkameen Indian Band, IGA Marketplace, Keremeos Builders Mart, Cawston Marketplace, Harkers Organics, Harris and Son Transport, Similkameen Pharmacy, Valley First Credit Union, Westland Insurance/ Similkameen Agencies, Cawston Cold Storage, Fas Gas, Narind Farm.