The Riverside Rapids went 3-1 at last week's Tournament for Emily but the real winner was Children's Hospital. The senior girls basketball tournament, hosted by Riverside, Terry Fox and Archbishop Carney, raised more than $8,000 for the charity.
The tournament is dedicated to Emily Inglis, a Port Coquitlam girl who died of cancer in 2002 at the age of 12, and has now raised more than $60,000 for Children's Hospital.
The Rapids opened the tournament with a 53-45 win over the W.J. Mouat Hawks of Abbotsford before falling to the Quebec Blizzard 65-61. Riverside brushed back the Salmon Arm Jewels 58-43 and closed out the tournament Saturday with a 72-44 win over the Kelowna Owls.
The Terry Fox Ravens opened with a 64-35 loss to the Burnaby South Rebels before falling 64-35 to Western Canada Redmen. Salmon Arm stopped Terry Fox 60-24 before the Ravens rebounded with a 44-28 win over the Chilliwack Storm.
The Gleneagle Talons dropped a 58-51 decision to the Fleetwood Park Dragons. Western Canada shaded the Talons 59-55 and Gleneagle outlasted Chilliwack 60-42. The Charles Best Blue Devils were edged 54-51 by Western Canada, lost 76-59 to Burnaby South and fell to Fleetwood Park 51-31
The Gleneagle Talons senior boys faced their toughest challenge right out of the gate at their AAAA tournament last week.
Gleneagle opened with a 73-70 overtime loss to eventual tournament champion Holy Cross.
The Talons then knocked off the Centennial Centaurs 71-39 and crushed Byrne Creek 107-42 to claim fourth spot.
Pinetree lost their opener to Charles Tupper 57-47. The Timberwolves then fell 71-65 to Byrne Creek before holding off Centennial 64-47 to snare seventh place. Centennial lost to Handsworth 62-57 in their other match. Holy Cross won the final with a 71-58 victory over Pitt Meadows
The Talons Cordell Parker was named a tournament all-star.
The Charles Best Blue Devils continued their hot streak last week, capturing the McDonald's VPD Winter Invitational.
The Blue Devils scorched the John Oliver Jokers 96-69 to open the tournament before knocking off the Eric Hamber Griffins 87-47. The Devils punched their ticket to the finals with a 95-72 win over the Windermere Warriors.
Charles Best's Grade 11 standout Graham Miller scored 13 points in the third quarter to help overcome a 55-50 deficit and pace the Devils to a 79-76 win over David Thompson in the final. The Blue Devils Hans Stander was able to win the rebounding battle against his taller opponent, earning a selection as a first-team all-star. Miller was named tournament MVP.
"As a first year coach with these guys I couldn't be happier how quickly they picked up my offense," said Blue Devils coach Sam Yu, who is happy with the 80 points a game his team is scoring. "Defensively we are giving up an average of 69 a game which needs to be lowered to around the 60-65 range but overall it's been a great start for the Blue Devils."
