South Kamloops weathers first half storm to fly by Duchess Park

In the first Quarter Final of the day in the AAA tournament, South Kamloops took on Duchess Park. Although it was close in the first, the Titans pulled away in the second fuelled by a big performance from the likes of Reid Jansen and Nick Saria.

Kamloops and Duchess Park battled it out early in the first, but a late 9-0 run by the Titans gave them an eight point lead after one. After that however, Kamloops shrugged shooting — the Condors were on a 12-0 run and they didn’t score until Graeme Kopps made a layup at the 3:55 mark. That seemed to spark the Titans, as Ripley Martin found his scoring touch as well as Denzel Marican. Their lead however was just three heading into the break.

Unfortunately for Duchess Park, South Kamloops continued to pour it on in the second half. They started off on a 14-6 run, punctuated by a Sarai coast to coast basket and a Jansen deep three. Their lead was into the double digits after three, and it continued that way all through the fourth quarter.

Unlike their game yesterday which was very close given the seeding of either team, South Kamloops comfortably won this one. Coach Bryce McMillan knows however the best is still to come from his team.

“We still haven’t shot the way we can shoot” he said following the game. “We were 3 for 12 from three in the first half, and if we start to shoot well it will make for a good semi final.”

Kamloops plays tomorrow at 3:30 pm.

Written by: Nick Bondi