Kelowna Owls were the big winners thanks to their big man in Saturday's final of the Terry Fox Legal Beagle senior boys high school basketball tournament.
Bolstered by a game-high 19 points from six-foot-11 centre Braxston Bunce, the top-seeded Owls buried the No. 6 Walnut Grove Gators of Langley 65-55 in the 10-team draw's championship game.
In the third-place contest played previously, the host Ravens -- ranked No. 9 in the most-recent B.C. AAA poll -- trimmed the W.J. Mouat Hawks 55-53, with the Abbotsford squad having entered the event as a provincial honourable mention.
The victory came after the Ravens were spilled 60-56 in overtime in Friday's semifinals by the sharp-shooting Gators, and after Fox opened the tourney with a 78-39 romp Thursday over North Vancouver's Windsor Dukes. In the other semi, Kelowna slugged out a 59-52 triumph over Mouat.
The last time the Ravens won the prestigious Beagle was back in 1996.
"It was a huge win [Saturday] and every player contributed," said Ravens head coach Steve Hanson. "We had 11 different players score. Losing the semifinal in front of the home crowd was tough but we needed to refocus.
"Walnut Grove is an extremely resilient team that shot the ball well all tournament. In the end, they hit some big shots at key times that changed the momentum of the game."
Against Mouat, whom Fox edged 58-54 in Abby on Dec. 7, the Ravens got three-pointers from six different players, including two apiece from Alex Nesterenko, Daniel Collins and Jesse Crookes. Collins finished with a team-best 11 points.
The Gators and Owls dominated the all-star team, with Walnut Grove's De'Sean Monsanto, Jadon Cohee and Paul Getz all getting chosen, along with Kelowna's Bunce and John Katerburg. Owls' point guard Mitch Goodwin collared tourney MVP honours, with Mouat's Tristan Etienne getting elected top defensive player.
"I was really proud of the effort over the three days but I'm confident we will shoot the ball better moving forward," Hanson said. "Losing to Walnut Grove showed us what we need to improve on. Our strength this year is our depth, and finding who needs to play with whom and at what times is a work in progress.
"I feel when we play hard and execute, we can match up with any team in the province."
In the consolation final, the No. 7-seeded White Rock Christian Warriors beat the honourable-mention Sir Charles Tupper Tigers of Vancouver 63-56.
