The top-ranked Duchess Park Condors lived up to the hype Saturday in Langley.
Backed by a 28-point game from tournament MVP Madison Landry, the Condors proved they are indeed the best double-A girls basketball team in B.C., defeating the Seycove Seahawks of North Vancouver 80-71 to claim the provincial title.
Landry, the player of the game for Duchess, also hauled in 10 rebounds. Nicola Erricson was deadly from three-point land, hitting four of eight attempts while putting up a 25-point game. Fourteen of her points came in the first quarter and she also had seven rebounds. Alina Shakirova contributed 21 points and 10 rebounds to the Condor cause. Claudia Hart led the Seahawks with 22 points.
The Condors leaned heavily on the previous provincial experience of their four seniors - Landry, Shakirova, Erricson and Marcie Schlick - and Grade 11 Gabby Cailier contributed some major minutes, especially in the final two games.
"The seniors played the whole game in the quarterfinal, semifinal and final unless they were in foul trouble," said Condors co-coach Catherine Erricson. "The girls were fit enough to do that and worked hard to be ready for those situations, playing an entire game or two in the tournament. We had good support from our Grade 9s throughout the year and had it from them in the tournament, but in the final, Gabby was the go-to player for that fifth spot."
Duchess Park wiped out a seven-point half-time deficit, outscoring the Seahawks in the third quarter to take a 65-58 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
"Madison and Alina came out finding that extra wind in the third quarter, they looked like different players in the second half and (the Seahawks) defence had a hard time with them," said coach Erricson. "Madison has played every position in every game we've played. She's six-foot and people can't stop her at post. She's unstoppable inside and she loves to play outside and she can handle the ball (at point guard) and she's fast."
Landry's versatility made her an obvious choice as the top player in the tournament. She and Shakirova have been recruited by UNBC.
The other members of the championship Condors squad are Isabel Zimmerman, Logan Cruz, Brynn Dergousoff and Adrienne Rex. Dave Fulks and Dale Dergousoff served as assistant coaches.
The Condors had strong opposition in their zone from the Nechako Valley Viqueens, who finished fifth in the province, and that helped get them ready to take on the top teams.
Saturday's championship was the fourth double-A girl basketball title the Condors have won in the past two decades.
They also won it in 1995, 1996 and 2000 and were provincial finalists three other seasons in that 20-year span. Last year the Condor senior team finished fifth.
Catherine Erricson's husband Al coached the team in 1995 and joined forces as co-coach with Catherine when their daughter Nicola started playing for the Grade 8 team in 2012.
It took a nail-biting 72-69 semifinal win over
No. 4 St. Thomas More to vault the Condors into the championship game. Landry led the way for Duchess in that one with 26 points and Shakirova hit for 21. Schlick, a six-foot-four UBC recruit, collected 18 points and had 19 rebounds, 11 of which were in the offensive end.
The game included eight lead changes.
Landry wasn't alone in being selected for an individual honour. Shakirova was picked as a first-team all-star, Erricson made the second team and Schlick made the honourable mention list.
Earlier in the tournament, the Condors defeated G.W. Graham 70-55 and thumped J.L. Crowe 104-23. Seycove got to the final with a 78-66 semifinal win over No. 2 Immaculata. In the bronze-medal game, Immaculata defeated St. Thomas More 86-69.
In the fifth-place game Saturday, Nechako Valley posted a 56-53 win over Vernon. Jordan Andres led the Vanderhoof team with 15 points, Sydney Andres had 11 and Kassidy Dick hit for 10 points.
The Viqueens' only loss was to Seycove in the quarterfinal round.
Meanwhile, at the 16-team junior girls provincial tournament, also in Langley, the Duchess Park Condors finished their season on the winning side of the ledger. They beat Terry Fox 88-52 Saturday morning to finish seventh.
The Condors (2-2) dropped down to the consolation bracket Thursday when they lost 52-35 to Argyle, the eventual tournament champion. Duchess Park lost 59-42 on Friday to Sullivan Heights. The Condors opened with a 56-26 win over Royal Bay.
Argyle defeated Walnut Grove 71-65 in the championship game Saturday. Kelowna won bronze.
