The best single-A girls basketball team in the province.
The Cedars Christian Eagles could be saying about themselves for the first time since 1999 if they can find a way to beat the Houston Christian Wildcats today.
The Eagles survived a scary semifinal playoff Friday, defeating Abbotsford Christian 80-76 to advance to today's championship final in Sparwood.
"It was an amazing game, it was back and forth the whole game," said Eagles head coach Randy Strybos. "It came down to the last few possessions to decide it."
Kayla Gordon led the Eagles with 32 points. The Grade 10 forward and Christie Pudlas, a Grade 12 guard, came through for Cedars at the free throw line late in the game when the Wildcats were forced to foul.
"We came back and matched them basket-for-basket, 3-pointer-for-3-pointer," said Strubos. "We made a few buckets and a few free throws near the end. Kayla Gordon sealed it. She had 32 points as the player of the game, one of the greatest performances I've ever seen."
Cedars led by eight at the half.
The Eagles have struggled this season against Houston Christian, which won its semifinal 74-56 over Kelowna Christian. Limiting the damage from six-foot-five forward Ruth Hamblin will be the key.
"They've beaten us a couple times this year and handled us quite well," Strybos said. "But we've progressed and we feel we'll do well in the final."
Game time is 5:50 p.m. PT
In the double-A girls provincial tournament in Kamloops, the No. 3 Lambrick Park Lions of Victoria beat the D.P. Todd Trojans 99-84. The Trojans (1-2) drew the Lions after they were upset Thursday by No. 6 Vernon Secondary.
"They are Number 3 for a reason," said Trojans coach Reid Roberts. "They were huge, and had two great 3-point shooters. They hit 11 threes on us when we tried to zone up their big girls. We hung with them in the first half when one big girl got into foul trouble."
The Trojans came on strong in the second quarter and were down by only one at the half, trailing 41-40, but were outscored 31-14 in the third quarter.
Danielle Steel finished with 28 points for D.P. Todd, including eight treys , while Jamie Macfarlane finished with 23 points and Piper Hoekstra, nursing a bad ankle, had 13.
The Trojans will play (1-2) Nechako Valley Viqueens for eighth place today at 4 p.m.
The College Heights Cougars dropped to 1-2 at the double-A boys championship, losing 80-68 to Southridge. Matt Badial shot 20 points, Nolan Hanson had 11, and Sam Goodrich totaled 10, for the Cougars, who will finish the tournament today at 10:45 a.m. against Hugh Boyd of Richmond.
At the triple A girls championship in North Vancouver, the PGSS Polars lost 55-42 to the New Westminster Hyacks to fall to 0-3.
