The senior boys qualified for the provincial basketball championships for the 7th year in a row as they advanced to the Okanagan Valley championship’s final game for the 6th year in a row.
The Hornets have had a great season thus far as they were able to win their 6th zone championship in six years with a solid 77-53 victory over their rivals, Maggie Mustangs.
The victory enabled the Hornets to advance to the valleys as the #3 seed. In their first game at the valleys the Hornets faced off against the #6 seed Kalamalka of Vernon.
The game was close in the first half as the Hornets only led by 15, but a huge outburst of points in the third quarter pushed the lead to 30 allowing the Hornets to cruise to a 99-77 victory.
The team was led by Malcolm Heinrichs with 38, and Gurk Dhaliwal poured in 32 more points. In the semi-finals the Hornets went up against #2 seed Westsyde of Kamloops.
This was a see-saw game as both teams took the lead at various points in the game, and it was not decided until the last 1:30 when Gurk Dhaliwal hit a huge three to push the lead to six with one minute left, a lead that Westsyde could not match as they fell to the Hornets 74-66. The Hornets were led by Gurk Dhaliwal with 29 points. Malcolm Heinrichs added 19 and Raj Bahniwal chipped in with 11 points. The Hornets met up with #4 seed Valleyview of Kamloops in the final.
The final was almost a replica of the semi-final with both teams sharing the lead throughout. Late in the 4th the Hornets took a seven-point lead, a lead they could not hold as Valleyview did to the Hornets what the Hornets did to Westsyde the night before. The Vikings hit three, three-point shots in a row, taking a two-point lead with less than 10 seconds to go.
The Hornets had a shot to win it with two seconds left in the game, but the shot rimmed out and Valleyview was crowned valley champs.
Malcolm Heinrichs led the team with 28 followed by Gurk Dhaliwal with 18 and Blake Miller Yuckin with 10. Both Heinrichs and Dhaliwal were named as valley all-stars.
The Hornets will now travel to Langley on March 5-8 to play in the provincial tournament. The opening game is at 8:30 versus Highland of Comox – streamed live on the Langley Events Centre website.
Mo Basso
Special to the Chronicle
