Oceanside’s two junior girls basketball teams left it all on the court up in Comox on the weekend.
In action at the BC High School Junior Girls Island championships at Mark Isfeld Secondary last Thursday through Saturday, Ballenas Secondary School went into the eight-team finals ranked first out of the North.
Kwalikum Secondary School, which won the districts on home court two weeks ago, grabbed the final berth.
Only the top two teams from the Island finals advance to the B.C.s in Langley.
The Whalers opened the tourney Thursday evening with a 44-38 win over Pacific Christian to advance to the semifinals.
On the other side of the draw, Mark Isfeld upset Clermont, 43-28, which set the table for a rematch with Ballenas. Two weeks ago the Whalers beat the Ice in the semifinal of the North Island finals.
“This one was a classic, man” Whalers’ coach Daryl Britz said Sunday.
According to Britz the game “was a defensive battle from start to finish with no more than four points separating the teams at any time.”
The game went into two overtime periods and BSS couldn’t hold on.
“We go cold, they go hot. They don’t miss a shot in the second overtime, we don’t make a shot in the second overtime, and that’s all she wrote,” he said of the 43-33 final.
“The girls were really upset after battling that hard, but they handled it well. After the game the other coach said it best that no team deserved to lose that game.”
Back at it early the next morning the Whalers squared off against KSS to see who got to play for bronze. BSS came out on top, 38-31.
Against Pacific Christian School for third place, Ballenas came up short 57-43.
In the end, Oak Bay placed first and KSS finished fifth.