The Duchess Park Condors are breathing a little easier now after they found the win column Friday at the North Central zone triple-A girls basketball championship.
They doubled up on the Correlieu Coyotes, winning 75-35 to improve to 1-1 at the three-team tournament, being played at Duchess Park.
After getting spanked 100-38 by the top-seeded College Heights Cougars in the zone tournament opener Thursday night, the Condors are feeling better about their chances of locking up one of the two provincial berths up for grabs this weekend.
“The kids came out ready to play,” said Condors assistant coach Louis Holmes. “Farrah Mahmoud was hitting her threes, Katie Shchepotkina had some nice threes and Mataya Lyons scored some nice ones inside.”
Lyons shot a game-high 23 points, while Mahmoud finished with 16 points. The Condors got major point production from Shchepotkina, who totaled 15, including three long-range buckets.
Kylie Perry collected 13 points and Emma Blair hit for 11 to lead the Coyotes offensively.
The Condors led 17-6 after one quarter, 34-14 at the half and 52-25 after three quarters.
“We just had to regroup (after Thursday’s blowout),”said Holmes. “It’s do or die time and they realize they have to go for it to try to get to provincials. We haven’t had a roadtrip this year because of everything (mostly due to the pandemic, and flood-related road closures).”
Correlieu went on to lose to the College Heights Cougars 83-16 Friday night. Duchess Park and Correlieu will meet at noon Saturday for the right to play College Heights in the zone final at 5 p.m. Under the double-knockout format, a loss in that game for the Cougars would mean there would be a second final to be played Sunday at 10 a.m.
The province-wide ban on spectators at high school sports events, which kept the stands at Duchess Park empty, will be lifted Saturday to allow half-capacity for the remaining games.
“I know the parents are going to go ballistic,” said Holmes. “They just want to see their kids play.”
Langley will host the triple-A girls provincial tournament, March 2-5.
Meanwhile, in the North Central junior A girls zone tournament, the Sir Alexander Mackenzie Grizzlies of Hagensborg won the championship Friday night, defeating the host Condors 47-22.
The Grizzlies were the top seed in the eight-team tournament and they advanced to the final with a 68-28 semifinal win over the Westside Warriors earlier Friday.
Twin sisters Annika and Ayanna Parr scored 23 points and 21 points respectively in that game for the Grizzlies, who are ranked 10th provincially.
They will move on to the 32-team junior A provincial tournament in Langley, March 2-5.
In the other semifinal, the No. 2-seeded Condors squeezed out a 37-35 semifinal win over the College Heights Cougars.
“The game was a battle from the beginning,” said Condors head coach Craig Douglass. “I’m really proud of our girls for stepping up on both offence and in defence. In this game, every possession mattered.
“We knew it would be close. College Heights has some great athletes and they work really hard.”
Emily Clarke led the Condors with 14 points, backed by a seven-point effort from Maggie Malfair. Temi Bankole was the big gun for College Heights, scoring 15 points, while Alisha Powar scored eight.
The Condors will play for the second provincial berth in the B-final Saturday at 2 p.m. Duchess Park will play the winner of Saturday’s College Heights-Westside playoff at 9 a.m.
