Bballnationals Day 1: Round 1

12:00pm Games

UFV Open vs Burnaby Ballers

It was a tight battle throughout, but the Burnaby Ballers pulled off a victory against UFV open 56-53. The Ballers pulled up to a quick seven point lead, but UFV managed to make it a tense three point game late.

“I know there’s a lot that we could have done better” said Burnaby Ballers forward Ozi Nwabuko. “I’m pretty proud of how we competed out there. We only had six players and a lot of them are college freshman. Hopefully our next game is a bit better and we make some shots that weren’t dropping today.”

Sienna Lenz had a game high 19 points for the Ballers.

Edmonton Grads vs Vancouver Fusion

In the first game in the Open Division for either team, the Vancouver Fusion beat the Edmonton Grads 79-45.

Although the Albertans got off to a quick 5-0 start, the Fusion’s transition offence and tenacious rebounding proved too much for their opponents to handle.

VK Basketball U12 vs Vic-City Swish

Vic opened up the scoring with a layup, which seemed to be a foreshadowing of how the rest of the game would unfold. The Swish dominated ball possession and went on a 6-0 run, holding a solid 8-2 lead in the first six minutes.

VK hit a crucial three to curb the scoring, but Swish kept on racking up the points on the board, bringing the score to 27-13 by the end of the first half. The girls communicated well on the court and were able to move the ball around their opponents quite easily on both ends.

Vic-City Swish’s Brianne McLeish (# 9) was named Player of the Game. She says she's excited to bond with her team in this tournament and is looking forward to playing new competition, as well.

VK Basketball U13 vs ASB

It was 37-11 by end of the first half in favour of VK. The VK squad held solid ball possession throughout the game.

The second half saw much of the same possession as the first, with the VK girls coming out strong and scoring 7 unanswered points before ASB could hit a bucket. After the 14-minute mark, ASB seemed to gain some momentum as both ends of the court were able to put up points.

But with 10 minutes to go in the final half, VK brought the score to 50-16. And it was only up from there.

With a solid effort on both sides, VK Basketball U13 came out on top and defeated ASB by a whopping 63-21 in the first round.

VK’s Caitlin Kippan (# 22) was named POG.

BC 250 (Jr. Coyotes) vs Edmonton Suns

The score was 31-10 in favour of the Jr. Coyotes at the end of the first half – the Suns beat the buzzer with a beautiful layup to end it off.

Fouls were even throughout the first half.

In the second half, the Suns made an attempt to bring it back for the team, scoring 10 points to the Coyotes 2 within the first five minutes.

As the half continued, the Coyotes gained back some traction and kept the lead by nearly 20 points at any given time. Though both teams battled hard in the paint, Kelowna’s Jr. Coyotes redeemed themselves with a win against the Edmonton Suns by defeating them 51-27.

Coyotes # 13, Mya, says she was most excited to play the Suns, since they lost to them last year at Nationals. She is excited to play new teams this time around, too.

“I’m looking forward to playing new teams that we haven’t played before and see how they play differently from us.”

Jr. Coyotes # 6 Sophia Clancy was named Player of the Game.

1:15pm Games

Big Country vs Stormhawkes

It was all Big Country Basketball in this one, as they cruised to victory over the Stormhawkes 44-17. A 15-0 run to start the game effectively iced it early for Big Country, and they didn’t really look back.

Big Country’s inside presence was the difference maker, as they continuously pounded the glass. The Stormhawkes didn’t really have an answer and althought they did outscore Big Country during the 2nd half, it was too little too late.

Player of the Game Ayoka Dos Santos was happy with her team’s effort afterwards.

“I think it went pretty good” she explained. “We worked as a team really well, passed the ball, and we played really good defence.”

Both teams play again at 5:00 p.m.

Edmonton Grads vs Stormers U15

The Grads had a 44-11 lead late in the second half, but the Stormers stormed back and scored 15 unanswered to win 57-46. The Stormers actually had the lead heading into the second half, but had to claw their way back to victory after almost letting it slip through their fingers.

Jaydyn Overwater had 22 points for the Stormers. Both teams play again at 5 against VK teams.

Jabog vs Winnipeg Wolves

It was a dominant offensive performance from Jabog, as they scored 67 points to defeat the Winnipeg Wolves. It was a balanced attack from Jabong as well, as no player scored more than 15 points.

Annika Trask scored 12 for Jabog, while Annika Goodbrandson had 8 for the Wolves. Winnipeg plays at 5:00, while Jabong gets a bit of a rest until 7:30.

SVIBA vs VK Carkner

South Vancouver Island Basketball Association took on one of the most lethal VK teams in their first round against VK Carkner. The VK squad just returned from the States where they competed in two AAU tournaments. And it showed!

They opened up the scoring with an easy layup and continued to pressure SVIBA on both ends of the court, putting up a staggering 36 points against them.

At the end of the first half, VK Carkner led 36-8.

In the second half, VK dominated again, holding their opponent to another 8 points in the half while hitting 32 of their own.

The final score: 68-16 for VK Carkner.

VK Basketball U15 vs BC250 U14

The VK U15 girls came out incredibly strong in the first half, with endless layups and 3s, taking the lead early on. Heading into the second, the score was 36-5 for VK.

In the next half, VK continued to stay on top with a great performance by # 32 Grace Elliot with 17 points. VK Basketball U15 killed it in the first round with a final score of 82-15.

Despite the loss, BC250’s Paris Kirk (# 12) says her team is just happy to be at Nationals again and is excited to play up a division, too. Her team knew coming into this game that VK would be “challenging because they’re a strong team.”

VK’s Coach Kat Fuess was proud of her girls following the big win and had this to say:

“I think that they did a fantastic job of moving the ball on offence. They found each other at the right time and the right place, shared the ball extremely well, and finished strong.”

POG: # 13 Sharlene Siy

LSA U15 vs Edmonton Suns

LSA U15 fought hard to stay ahead of the Edmonton Suns by nearly double throughout the entire first half. Heading into the second, they led 27-12.

The second half saw much of the same fight, too, but from the opposite end of the court as the Suns relentlessly duked it out in hopes of minimizing the point deficit.

Despite the valiant effort by the Edmonton Suns near the end of the game, LSA U15 claimed their first W of the tournament with a final score of 41-34.

LSA’s # 21 Kelsey L. was named POG.

2:30pm Game

Triple Threat Orange vs Calgary Warriors U17

The Calgary Warriors defeated the Triple Threat Orange 55-35. The Warriors raced out to an early 16-4 lead, and that lead ballooned to over 20 early in the second half.

Michaela Russo had 16 points for the Warriors, while Nicole Torozan had 10 for Triple Threat. Both teams play again at 6:15 pm.

Triple Threat Black vs Swoosh U17

It was looking like a Triple Threat blowout to start. However Swoosh made a game of it in the second half, with the final score being.

Triple Threat’s defence was airtight early, as they held their opponents to just 2 points seven minutes in. But in the second half, Swoosh found their rhythm in tran