When the Kelowna Christian Knights made their charge, the PGSS Polars didn't back down. Six minutes later, they were tournament champions.
Saturday in Kelowna, the PGSS senior girls basketball team knocked off the Knights 75-65 in the final game of an Immaculata tournament. The Polars were in front most of the way but found themselves in a 59-59 tie with six minutes left on the clock. As time ticked down, Grade 12 guard Kasey Reiter set up for a three-point shot and nailed it. After that, Brittanie Billings, Ali Bourque and Bailee Poitras all drained free throws and the Polars were on their way to the win.
"I think we were 22-for-33 in free throws (in the game)," said PGSS coach Ray Bourque. "That's close to 70 per cent.
"It was such a physical game. (The Knights) got into foul trouble so that's what put us at the line. On loose balls and stuff they were just all over you so we were trying to answer that by being really strong on the ball and ripping really hard to the hoop to try and draw those fouls and it seemed to work."
Billings, with 23 points, led the Polars offensively. Reiter scored 16 and Ali Bourque had 15.
The game was played in front of a large and loud Kelowna Christian crowd and the noise from the seats added to the overall intensity level on the floor.
The Knights entered the game as the top-ranked single-A team in B.C. The Polars, meanwhile, are unranked at the triple-A level.
After the tournament, Ali Bourque -- also a Grade 12 guard -- was named most valuable player.
"She showed a lot of leadership," Ray Bourque said. "She scored 15 points in the final game but a lot of it was based on her defence. She seems to keep the whole team together."
The Polars started the tournament by downing Immaculata 76-61. Reiter scored 22 points and Billings added 20 to the cause. Next, PGSS defeated Princeton -- No. 4 in the single-A rankings -- 78-46. In that one, Natalie Chappell led the Polars with 16 points and Billings contributed 13.
The tournament win was the second of the season for PGSS. The Polars will be back on the court Thursday (7:30 p.m.) when they host the College Heights Cougars in a city league semifinal game.
The Polars will also host a tournament this weekend. Later this month, they'll compete in the triple-A zone championship at Kelly Road secondary school. At zones, the Polars will go up against Kelly Road, North Peace of Fort St. John, South Peace of Dawson Creek and Correlieu of Quesnel and will be favoured to secure the lone berth to provincials, March 3-6 in North Vancouver.
--- The Lakewood Lakers hosted and won a junior girls basketball tournament on the weekend. In Saturday's final, the Lakers defeated the D.P. Todd Trojans 42-31. For bronze, the Duchess Park Condors beat the College Heights Cougars 44-34.
