Their first tournament title of the season was a significant one in school history.
When the Cedars Christian School Eagles beat the D.P. Todd Trojans 61-50 in the championship final of the Polars Invitational senior girls basketball tournament Saturday night at PGSS, they achieved something no other Cedars team had managed.
They claimed gold in an event that featured triple-A competition.
"We had a good team effort," said Cedars coach Al MacDonald. "We've been building upon some early-season success. Some of the things that we've been working on have been coming together."
The Eagles -- based on their school population -- are classed as a single-A team. The host Polars, as well as the Kelly Road Roadrunners, were triple-A teams in the weekend draw.
Not even the 1998 Eagles, who won the single-A provincial championship, topped a tournament that had triple-A teams on the floor. The present-day Eagles currently own the No. 3 ranking on the provincial single-A list and are intent on taking a serious run at their own B.C. title.
"I coached that [1998] team too," MacDonald said. "It's kind of apples and oranges -- that team had different strengths than our team so it's kind of hard to compare.
"This is a nice team and [provincial gold] is what we're going for," MacDonald added. "We're lining it up [but] there are a couple of good teams out there."
Houston Christian has the No. 1 single-A ranking right now, followed by Abbotsford Christian. Provincials will be held in Salmo in March.
The Trojans, meanwhile, compete at the double-A level but they couldn't match the elevation of the Eagles in Saturday's final. A hot-shooting Cedars team had a 24-13 lead after the first quarter and forced D.P. Todd to play catch-up the rest of the night. The Trojans got close with four minutes left in the fourth quarter, suddenly down 53-48, but the Eagles answered that push and walked off the court as winners.
Karly Goertzen, a Grade 11 small forward who was later picked as the tournament's most valuable player, led the Eagles with 19 points, while teammates Kayla Gordon (12 points) and Kayla Eby (10 points) were also key contributors on offence. Piper Hoekstra had a team-high 10 points for D.P. Todd. Danielle Steel and Tenley Pearce added eight each.
A key for the Eagles was being able to break through D.P. Todd's pressure defence. Grade 12 Cedars point guard Christie Pudlas was a huge part of that success.
"She used some good decision-making, with smart passing and good dribbling," MacDonald said.
In the bronze-medal game, the College Heights Cougars edged the Smithers Gryphons 68-66.
College Heights is hosting a tournament this weekend.
n In weekend senior boys basketball action, College Heights went 1-2 at a Sa-Hali tournament in Kamloops. The Cougars lost 88-72 to Byrne Creek of Burnaby and 78-75 to Pleasant Valley of Armstrong but then knocked off Valleyview of Kamloops 78-62.
