For the Riverside Rapids, it's not a case of being spread too thin, but having the depth to spread.

Ranked No. 1 in provincial senior girls AAA basketball circles, the Rapids emerged Saturday with second place at the vaunted Centennial Top-10 Shootout tournament, after a 68-63 defeat at the hands of their Fraser Valley rival Brookswood Bobcats.

At the same time that final was being played, another troupe wearing Riverside green was closing up the Bob Carkner Memorial tourney in Richmond with a 59-51 title win over crosstown rival Terry Fox.

The duelling final appearances gave the PoCo program a chance to run both the senior and junior squads through difficult gauntlets, but challenges that head coach Paul Langford felt comfortable heading in.

"We kind of put a few (senior) kids in each venue because we wanted to play in both and show our respect for both tournaments," Langford said. "We have a lot of kids in senior and junior - 11 in junior and 13 in senior - so competing in both tournaments wasn't a stretch."

In the Top-10 final, it was a sluggish start that put Riverside behind the eight-ball and ended their 25-game winning string.

Brookswood pushed ahead by 14 points late in the third quarter but the Rapids awoke and took a 61-60 lead thanks to a 9-0 run late in the game. But with just 1: 33 left to play, the PoCo squad couldn't hold on.

"At one point we were down by 17 and fought all the way back," noted Langford. "Maybe we used a little too much energy in coming back, because once we got all the way back we still were in panic mode- We just didn't get any momentum."

Grade 11 forward Fiona Beales topped all shooters with 19 points, while Katie Woo chipped in with 16 points - including 14 in the second half.

Riverside, which had bested the Bobcats in two previous encounters including a 29-point win in the Chilliwack tourney final, was without veteran starter Megan Sherwood and Grade 11 Chelsey Sanchez.

To advance to the final the Rapids dispatched York House 71-56 on Friday. They launched the Top-10 series with wins over Argyle (88-66) and Chilliwack (87-40).

In other Centennial Top-10 results, the Gleneagle Talons were nudged 62-55 by Claremont on Saturday to finish ninth overall. It came on the heels of a 64-60 win over Yale and a 51-41 decision over Chilliwack.

Centennial faced a tough crowd of highranked rivals, falling 73-51 to Handsworth, 57-54 to Yale, 59-36 to Chilliwack and 60-57 to W.J. Mouat.

Point guard Natalie Carkner was selected to the first all-star team, while Denise Spacek ws selected to the second squad.

Beales and Gleneagle's Jamie McLaughlin were honourable mentions.

In Richmond, Riverside repeated as Bob Carkner Memorial Classic champions with a Grade 10-heavy roster.

Seniors who made the Richmond final were Grade 12 guards Hayley Redmond and Carly Swan and Grade 11 forward Desha Puri. Grade 10 Vanessa Gee was named tournament MVP.

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