(Apologies for this error…. the REAL story has now been inserted here. again, so sorry for this — Howard Tsumura)
NO. 1 ACWSALCTA 71 NO. 4 NECHAKO VALLEY 49
By IAN FRENCH (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY — Taking centre stage at the Langley Event Centre’s Centre Court was a heavyweight bout.
The top-ranked and defending champs Acwsalcta Thunder squared off with the fourth-seed, Nechako Valley Viqueens, with a trip to the senior girls’ Single-A provincial championships final on the line. From the opening tip, it was clear that both teams belonged in that spotlight. However, after a grit-filled 40 minutes that saw both teams exchange blows, it was the Thunder who emerged victorious, finishing strong with a 21-point fourth quarter to pull away and earn a 71-49 win.
Senior centre Ariana Scott-Unger anchored the Viqueens defensively, posting 10 points and 13 rebounds – seven of which came on the offensive end – while team captain Morgan Van Dolah chipped in with eight points and five steals. For the Thunder, senior guard Ayanna Parr, who was limited in yesterday’s game due to foul trouble, stuffed the stat sheet in this one, racking up 25 points, 10 rebounds and a game-high seven steals. While senior centre and sister to Ayanna, Annika Parr, recorded a ridiculous 28 points, 20 rebounds and three blocks to secure the win.
“They’re the dynamic duo. They train together, they ball together, they just put so many hours in that are unseen. I work with them personally, so I can tell you they take a lot of shots”, mused Thunder assistant coach Jonas Anderson when asked about the Parr sisters’ impact. “Finally, in that second half, Ayanna turned into a flamethrower. She was hitting threes throughout the third and fourth, that really spaced the floor up for us to drive and get that easy dish inside.”
Van Dolah, fresh off player of the game honours from the Viqueens’ quarterfinal matchup, kicked this one off with a no-hesitation three from the wing. However, the Thunder responded, showing their championship pedigree. Senior guard Kashlyn Mack knocked down back-to-back jumpers – tallying four of her nine first-quarter points – while Ayanna Parr followed with a steal and layup in transition to put their side ahead. The score seesawed from there, but the Thunder were able to tack on a few extra points with consistent inside scoring, creating a four-point lead by the end of one, up 18-14.
The second frame was the quarter of runs. The Thunder opened with back-to-back buckets inside. A couple of possessions later, Annika Parr knocked down a deep three-pointer to cap off an 8-2 run in the opening minutes. However, the Viqueens needed little time to fight back. Over the following three minutes, Nechako Valley pieced together a nice run of their own. From tight help defence on one end to finishing through contact on the other, the Viqueens’ posted an 8-0 run, highlighted by Morgan Van Dolah, who sank an unreal circus shot off the bottom left corner of the backboard that somehow spun into the hoop. As heavyweights do, both sides went back and forth the rest of the quarter, heading into the break 33-31 in favour of the Thunder.
A few minutes into the second half, the Parr sisters took control. The pair strung together six straight points before Ayanna Parr capped off the run with a catch-and-shoot three to establish a double-digit advantage, leading to a Viqueens’ timeout. From there, Nechako Valley cranked up the intensity on defence, briefly stunting the Thunder offence. They began slowly cutting into the deficit as freshman guard Mya Hutt followed a made three-pointer with a pump fake turned step-in jumper a few possessions later to energize the Viqueens’ bench. But just as Nechako Valley seemed to be clawing their way back, Annika Parr received a pass in the paint with her back to the basket before quickly throwing it out to Ayanna, who was waiting beyond the arc and buried another triple to push the lead to 12, ending the third 50-38 in favour of the Thunder.
As the game waned on, the physicality picked up. The Thunder started the fourth with an inside score and followed with hard-nose defence on the other end, intercepting a multitude of passes. Those steals turned into layups in transition, and, in the blink of an eye, the Thunder inflated their lead to 20. The Viqueens battled to stay in it but couldn’t overcome the barrage of Thunder scoring, leading to a final score of 71-49.
“Shoutout to the scorer’s table, they were giving us live stats, and that’s very helpful because we looked at our numbers and our rebounding wasn’t there”, began Thunder coach Anderson. “We were taking a lot of threes, and they weren’t dropping, so we told the girls to turn the other team into shooters, and we’ll drive. Just flip the script, just fight for the rebound when they shoot it, and sure enough, our rebounding went up.”
With the win, the top-ranked Acwsalcta Thunder will advance to take on the second-seed Cedars Christian Eagles in the 1A finals, set for 1:00 p.m. PT on February 28 at the Langley Event Centre Arena Bowl.
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