Greater Victoria high school girls basketball teams battle it out at Belmont secondary starting tonight (Feb. 12) and tomorrow to determine which four automatically advance to the Island AAA championships.
Aiming to be one of those four the host Bulldogs, the No. 5 seed, play No. 4 Spectrum in a first-round match today at 5:45 p.m. Top seed Oak Bay awaits the winner of that game, with Friday's semifinal also happening at 5:45 p.m.
Third-seed Mount Douglas and StellyB次元官网网址檚, who won a play-in game over Reynolds earlier this week, meet in opening round action tonight at 7:15 p.m., with the winner to play No. 2 seed Claremont in the semifinals at 7:15 p.m. Friday.
With four of seven teams guaranteed a spot in the Island championships B次元官网网址� and a fifth able to challenge No. 4 in the North for another spot B次元官网网址� the South Island is clearly in the driverB次元官网网址檚 seat when it comes to contesting berths for the upcoming provincial AAA championships.
B次元官网网址淚 think itB次元官网网址檚 unlikely that anyone will knock off Oak Bay or Claremont,B次元官网网址� said Belmont coach Brad Lidstone, noting that the two will likely meet in SaturdayB次元官网网址檚 final at 6 p.m.
The rest of the pack is quite even, he added, meaning itB次元官网网址檚 important for the Bulldogs not take any team for granted. B次元官网网址淚 think we are confident, but we know we need to play our best basketball to be successful. WeB次元官网网址檙e not taking anybody lightly.B次元官网网址�
The modified draw doesnB次元官网网址檛 guarantee that all four teams in the semifinals advance to the Islands. Losing teams in the semis cross over to play first-round losers Saturday starting at 9 a.m. The winners of those games play for third and fourth at 4:30 p.m.
In last weekB次元官网网址檚 provincial rankings, Oak Bay and Claremont were eighth and ninth, respectively, highest among Island teams. Defending B.C. champion Brookswood Bobcats from Langley remain No. 1.
Belmont, which won its last two league games to finish at 3-3, was one of three teams to finish with a .500 regular season record. Since the trio each went 1-1 in head-to-head games, the tiebreaker used to determine placing was point differential in those games.
The Island AAA championships happen Feb. 18 to 20 at Claremont.
AA hoops season over for Ravens B次元官网网址� Vying to secure a berth into this weekB次元官网网址檚 AA senior girls city tournament, the Royal Bay Ravens lost a heartbreaker, 45-42 to Edward Milne in a challenge game on Tuesday.
The Ravens had finished fifth in league play.
editor@goldstreamgazette.com
