Jr Gr 9 Girls Provincials Bound!

The Grade 9 Junior Jewels team are on their way to this year’s Grade 9 Provincial Basketball tournament at Heritage Woods Secondary School in Port Coquitlam, February 27 to 29. KLO Middle School hosted the Valley playoff tournament this weekend. The Jewels went into the tournament ranked 3rd, ahead of Mount Boucherie and Pen-Hi. They played second ranked team, South Kamloops on Friday night in a very exciting back and forth battle. The game went into overtime and the Jewels came out ahead, winning 43 to 38. Strong rebounding and steady post play from Tessa Elliott and Katie Overgaard, along with aggressive defensive play and scoring from point guard Ainsley Mueller, lead the Jewels to victory.

That win guaranteed the Jewels a berth at the Provincials and meant that they would be playing number one ranked team KLO Middle in the final. Once again, the game was a close one and came down to the last seconds, with KLO making a free throw to go up by one with 14 seconds left. The Jewels called a time out to advance the ball and avoid the backcourt pressure of KLO’s relentless defenders. Unfortunately, the Jewels didn’t make their last shot and ended up short with a final score of 40 to 39. Katie Overgaard led the team, scoring 17 points, while Ainsley Mueller sunk a timely 3-pointer to add to the team total. Coaches Kira and Keith Limber want to extend their appreciation to KLO for hosting the tournament.