A win is a win - and when it's in a championship tournament, it's more than that.

While the Riverside Rapids' performance in Wednesday's tip-off game of the B.C. senior girls AAA basketball championships wasn't a gem, the end result was.

The Rapids launched the 2013 provincials with a 79-66 win over Steveston-London of Richmond.

While the victory was all that mattered in the scheme of things, Riverside coach Paul Langford wasn't enthralled in how it was accomplished - and hopeful that it was merely a one-off.

"We didn't play very well. We practiced very well all week and I thought we'd be in great shape but we didn't execute," said Langford. "We were sitting behind the play, I don't know if it was jitters, anticipation or what it was but we needed to be a whole lot better."

Although they never trailed and even had a large 18-point lead in the first half, the Rapids showed uneven success around the basket, hitting just three of 16 three-point attempts.

Steveston, which ended a 12-year provincial appearance drought by Richmond schools, put up a pesky rally in the third and fourth quarters to cut the lead to five points, but the Port Coquitlam squad managed to pull away in the late stages.

Setting a steady tone on offence was Grade 12 Fiona Beales, who pocketed a game-high 22 points and hauled down 12 rebounds. Contributing with 17 points and eight boards was Dani Antiginani. Desha Puri, who connected on two of 12 shots outside the arc, added 12 points

"We weren't very good offensively (and) defensively some of our kids didn't compete," remarked Langford.

"Fiona got into foul trouble and I thought Dani stepped up offensively and did a nice job. I didn't like anything we did defensively. We had a bit of a strategy and I don't think it worked very well."

The win catapulted the No. 8-seed Rapids into a tough matchup against the No. 1-ranked team entering the tourney, South Kamloops, in a game played yesterday (past The NOW's deadline).

Langford said a better effort was a must.

"We're up against the beast. We're not equipped, we'll give them a fight, we'll try anyways."

Any chance of registering the upset of the tournament required a better performance.

South Kamloops blasted Mount Baker 101-18 in other preliminary action.

The tournament continues today and Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.

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