Natalie Carkner will bounce on the basketball court beside her older sister, Stephanie, with Langley's Trinity Western Spartans on athletic scholarship for the next university women's basketball season, it was announced Tuesday.
A five-foot-five point guard, Natalie toiled as a starter with the Riverside Rapids since Grade 10 and, last month, led her high school squad to third place at the B.C. AAA prep provincial tournament at Capilano College.
In the bronze-medal game, Natalie poured in 20 points and added seven assists and five steals as Riverside, under head coach Paul Langford, blitzed Langley's Brookswood Bobcats 103-74.
She was earlier named MVP at the Fraser Valley championships and was a driving force behind the Rapids' stellar 34-3 season, in which she averaged 10 points, five assists and five steals per game.
"With that elite high school experience and knowledgeable coaching, she is coming into our program with confidence and an understanding of what it takes to play in big games," said Spartans head coach Cheryl Jean-Paul. "She has an expectation to win despite the pressure to succeed, which is exactly what the future of our program is striving for every year."
Natalie's sister, Stephanie, is entering her fifth year at TWU.
