The Al McKee Invitational girls basketball tournament got off to a good start for host team Similkameen Sparks on Friday.
The Similkameen Sparks Junior team put some distance on the scoreboard between themselves and opponent Summerland Rockets in the first two quarters, eventually cruising to a 50 -14 win. The Similkameen Elementary Secondary School Junior team were favoured to take first place in the weekend tournament.
SESS hosted a total of four games on Friday evening, followed by eight more on Saturday.
In Saturday’s final, Similkameen played and defeated a previously unbeaten Charles Bloom team. They stood at 15-0, in the best game of the junior tournament.
From Similkameen, Reiley Terbasket was named tournament all-star, while Madison Terbasket was named tournament most valuable player (MVP).
The final, turned out to be anti-climatic after Similkameen took a 35-7 lead by the end of the first quarter, allowing them to coast the rest of the game and still win by a 20 point margin.
The best game of the tournament was Heritage versus Unity. The score was close the whole game, with many lead changes.
Similkameen team member, Tina Schaefer was named tournament all-star, and Nicola Terbasket was named tournament MVP.
A significant outome of the tournament was that Unity Christian came to Keremeos as favorites, (ranked fifth, in single A Girls provincially) and left with only one win and two losses.
Sparks Light it up
Final results of the Al McKee Invitational
Basketball Tournament
Junior Girls
Similkameen 50 Summerland 14
Charles Bloom 38 Oliver 18
Similkameen 58 Oliver 31
Charles Bloom 56 Summerland 37
Summerland 36 Oliver 32
Final game and tournament standings
Similkameen 57 Charles Bloom 43
Similkameen Junior Girls 1st
Charles Bloom(Lumby) 2nd
Summerland 3rd
Oliver 4th
Senior Girls
Hertitage Christian 51 Unity Christian 45
Similkameen 69 Charles Bloom 44
Heritage Christian 63 Charles Bloom 35
Similkameen 63 Unity Christian 52
Unity Christian 74 Charles Bloom 44
Final game and tournament standings
Similkameen 64 Heritage Christian44
Similkameen 1st
Heritage Christian 2nd
Unity Christian 3rd
Charles Bloom 4th