BC Girls AA Basketball Provincials: Quarterfinal Action - Who's Going to the Semis?

Ah, Quarterfinals. So close to the championship, you can nearly smell that fresh fabric of the 2019 BC banner. It's a day where eight teams remain, but only four will book a ticket to the ever-so-tempting semi-finals.

Here's the low down on all of the Quarterfinal action from Day 2 of the BC Girls Basketball Provincials:

Britannia Bruins vs St. Thomas Aquinas Fighting Saints

If you thought that the first game of Quarterfinal Thursday was going to be a doozy, you were absolutely right. With both STA and Britannia coming off hot wins from the Day 1, these two teams came to battle.

The first half was a seesaw: at any moment, the Bruins were up, then the Fighting Saints fought back to take the lead. With Gemma Cutler and Jessica Clarke on literally on point, they kept STA in the lead by 1 point at the half; 32-31 over Brit.

But holy cow, this game would prove to be a nail-biter. The third quarter went to the Saints again; however, in the fourth and final stint of the game, Britannia tied it all up at 51 with around five minutes remaining. Both teams battled hard in the paint, though the Saints stayed slightly ahead of the Bruins for the duration of the game.

Even with the valiant effort, it just wouldn’t be enough for Brit, as they fell to the Saints 72-66.

Jessica Thorpe grabbed her first Player of the Game honours with 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals.

Seycove Seyhawks vs South Kamloops Titans

The second game of the day saw a powerful performance from the titanic Titans from South Kamloops. With precise shots from star Maddy Gobeil, South Kam took a dominant lead in the first half. Titans led 48-22.

Though the Seyhawks played well on defence and locked down some crucial layups, they were unable to soar past South Kam.

The Titans claimed their spot in the semis with a final score of 76-59 over Seycove. Gobeil had a colossal game with 38 points—the most of the tourney thus far on the AA side—and 13 rebounds/5 assists. Fittingly, she was named Player of the Game.

South Kam will duke it out against the St. Thomas Aquinas Fighting Saints on Friday, March 1st at 3:30pm in the Centre Court of the Langley Events Centre.

Langley Christian Lightning vs St. Thomas More Collegiate Knights

With a boom and crash, the Langley Christian Lightning were first to find the scoreboard against the St. Thomas More Collegiate Knights in the third quarterfinal game of the day. STM donned their flashy red and had their D on lock in the opening minutes, though. While both teams charged up-and-down the court, minimal points were allowed on either side. Still, LC had St. Thomas More’s number and led 38-22 at the half.

It’s as though the court had mini rips in the paint that drew the ball away from the hoops, since both teams seemed to struggle from the field. Langley pulled out all the stops to keep a fairly steady lead. But STM never gave up hope and trailed by a mere 11 points at their closest gap (which came in the fourth quarter when the Lightning led 55-44).

Despite the aggression and energy, the Knights were too rusty to bring it back for the win. The Langley Christian Lightning electrocuted St. Thomas More with a final score of 66-49.

Hailey Van Roekel was electric for the Lightning and grabbed her first POG honours with 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Mackenna Gardner was held to 15 points, but came up with an striking 10 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals.

GW Graham Grizzlies vs Vernon Panthers

Vernon began the game with a wet little three, which seemed to ignite the Panther within each passionate player. The team somehow kept the Grizzlies slightly at bay in the first quarter. Leave it to those growlin’ Grizzlies to take care of business, though. The Tuchscherer sisters finally found their footing and piled up the points to capture the lead for the duration of the half.

GW led just 29-22, as Vernon stayed hot on their tails.

In the remaining quarters, this battle of the beasts continued to see Chilliwack’s squad of gritty Grizzlies hold on to what would be eventually be their ticket to the semi finals!

GW Graham Grizzlies clawed through their competition, defeating the Vernon Panthers 59-44. The Tuchscherer sisters combined for 36 points—Deanna had an impressive 19 rebounds on top of that.

The Grizzlies girls have a challenging battle against the hometown Langley Christian Lightning in the Final Four at 5:15pm, happening at Centre Court of the Langley Events Centre.

We'll catch you all tomorrow as the Semifinals are sure to be as intense as ever!

PS--Be sure to follow us on Instagram for live score updates and highlight videos from each of today's games.

Written by: Crystal Scuor