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VALLEYVIEW 47 FERNIE 40
By HOWARD TSUMURA
LANGLEY — Playoff defence in early December?
It might not be quite up to the same standards teams hold themselves to in say, February when the fate of your season is on the line.
Yet the brand of ‘D’ dialled up by Kamloops’ Valleyview Vikes in its 47-40 TBI Select 16 semifinal win over the Fernie Falcons was at times impenetrable.
Trailing 24-21 at the half, a Vikes team with just seven healthy players and no seniors, never flinched, and over a game-defining third quarter held the Falcons to just a single point while scoring 15 themselves.
“I mean, I’ve been telling them all game that defence is going to win it for us,” said Valleyview head coach Karen Horsman, whose team was led by the 18 points of Grade 9 point gaurd Sameera Gill and the 17 points of 6-foot Grade 11 guard Claire McLoughlin.
Fernie was led by the 13 points of its 6-foot-2 Grade 11 centre Kamry Yuill and 10 more from its senior guard Jaycee Anderson.
The victory sends Valleyview into Saturday’s 3 p.m. Select 16 TBI final on South Court against the winner of the second semifinal between Pitt Meadows and Centennial.
“You cannot win a basketball game scoring one point,” Fernie head coach Jen Kennedy acknowledged of the third quarter. “But we turned it around it around in the fourth quarter a little bit, fought back a little bit on the defensive end. It just wasn’t enough at the end. They’re very well-conditioned and very well-coached and hats off to them.”
Fernie guard Taylor Witbeck drained a three with one minute left to make it 46-40 but that was as close as the Falcons would come.
Valleyview coach Horsman said that going into the game it was clear that her team needed to slow the Falcons’ 6-foot Grade 9 guard Billie Kennedy, and she was ready to dedicate one player to that goal.
“I had my best defensive player (Peyton Adamski) on No. 4,” Horsman said of Kennedy, the daughter of the Fernie head coach and a former B.C. age group select. “She’s been doing really well in this tournament, and a lot of respect for her. So Peyton was face-guarding her and did a tremendous job. That’s what set the tone in the game. (I said to her) no help, no nothing. You’re just going to stay on her. Then the rest of the team just stepped up.”
The Vikes and the Falcons were clearly two of the 16-team field’s underdogs to start the week here at the LEC.
Valleyview had an already-small roster trimmed even further by injury and commitment to other sports. In its 41-31 quarterfinal win over Quad-A Heritage Woods on Thursday, Valleyview won with just six players.
Fernie felt fortunate just to arrive in the Langley Township after a blizzard hit their Kootenays’ city just as they were set to board their flight. Despite delays, they arrived in time to beat Surrey’s Earl Marriott 69-49 on Day 1 Wednesday.
And both of the rosters were filled with talented underclassmen, making both of these teams ones to watch both this season and next.
Especially Valleyview, which, as mentioned, does not have a Grade 12 on its roster this season.
Their point guard Gill, who suffered an ankle injury on Wednesday, was not at full strength, yet her feel and vision for a Grade 9, as well as her moxy and fearlessness, were irresistible to the basketball purist.
“You’re so poised for your age and I just and I heard your ankle’s hurting you. What did you have to do to make your team better today?” She was asked.
“You know, honestly, we just kept on fighting. We didn’t give up, even though we (committed) a couple of turnovers. We just kept pushing, pushing. We squeaked out the win.”
“And how excited are you about playing in a championship final in this building?”
“I am ecstatic to play in this championship. I can’t wait. Thank you, sir.”
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