Kelowna Owls win opening game in convincing fashion

Kelowna's Taya Hanson going in for the layup (BC Sports Hub)

The first game on the AAA side of the bracket featured the Kelowna Owls taking on the Heritage Woods Kodiaks. Kelowna has been a mainstay in the tournament for a few years now, while Heritage Woods was making its first ever appearance.

The Kodiaks showed no nerves to start the game, as they traded baskets with the Owls. However, Kelowna’s full court pressure started to pay off as they managed to open up a 18-10 lead after the first quarter. Taya Hanson from Kelowna had a big three to extend that lead late.

The second quarter is when Kelowna started to pull away. After some terrific defence which forced a shot clock violation on Heritage, the Owls went down and scored an easy transition bucket. From then on, the lead for Kelowna ballooned to 17, and then to 30 by the end of the first half. Hanson had back to back threes to help her team extend that lead.

Heritage to their credit came out fighting in the second half, trading baskets with Kelowna for much of the third. But by then, the lead was too much to overcome and the final score was 87-51.

Kelowna’s Taya Hanson finished with 28 points and 8 rebounds. From Heritage, Hailey Counsell had 23 points. Kelowna will play tomorrow at 1:45 pm.

Head to our Instagram page to check out a few highlights from the game!

Written By: Nick Bondi