Going on the attack, Riverside Rapids' Fiona Beales, left, cuts around Kelowna's Kiana Lalonde during opening round action at the Centennial Top-10 Shootout.
Photograph by: Lisa King , NOW
Entering last week's Centennial Top-10 Shootout, the Riverside Rapids, Gleneagle Talons and Terry Fox Ravens were eager to see how they measured up against the top senior girls basketball teams in the province.
After the dust has settled, it's apparent that there's still some measuring up to do.
The three District 43 squads ran into a rough run in the three-day series, which had the top 9-ranked clubs in attendance.
Riverside led the local charge and finished 10th overall, after knocking off No. 9-rated Fleetwood Park 61-43. In a battle for 15th spot, the Talons squeaked past Terry Fox 64-61.
The South Kamloops Titans, who stood fourth in the pre-tourney ratings, edged No.
2-ranked Brookswood in the championship final 59-55.
For the eighth-ranked Rapids, the close nature of the losses was some consolation, but more importantly good evidence to what they need to do to turn the tables.
They began the series with a 90-79 loss at the hands of No. 6 Kelowna. Up by two points with four minutes left, Riverside was overwhelmed by the Owls' pressure and saw the lead fall apart.
"We didn't hold up very well against Kelowna," noted Rapids coach Paul Langford. "We had the lead and couldn't finish it. We didn't rise to the occasion."
Fiona Beales cashed in 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Vanessa Gee chipped in with 20 points and Dani Antignani added 14.
Later in that day, Riverside got back in the win bracket by slapping Gleneagle 55-28. The Talons had begun the tourney with a 66-35 loss to third-seed Handsworth.
On Friday, the Rapids saw another close one slip away, this time 81-76 to MEI.
"We got into foul trouble against MEI," Langford said. "We tend to play up to the level of our competition and don't seem to push beyond that. We're not peaking by any means yet."
Gee topped the PoCo shooters with 28 points, while Shae Sanchez contributed 15 and Beales 14.
That put them in the 10th place game with Fleetwood, a team whom Riverside had been co-ranked at No. 8 entering the tournament.
Gleneagle's route to its finish included a 51-46 loss to Kitsilano.
The Terry Fox Ravens, meanwhile, began with a loss to eventual champion South Kam 74-34, followed by a 7957 defeat at the hands of W.J. Mouat. On the second day, the Ravens went the distance against New Westminster only to fall 73-72 in overtime.
Fox's Katie Devaney was named as an Honourable Mention all-star.
