The SOSS Hornets finished 9th in the provincial tournament last week. Photo by Lyonel Doherty
The Hornets entered the provincial championships as the 8th seed last week.
In the opening game the Hornets faced off against St. Thomas Aquinas, a team that they beat in the finals of the Immaculata basketball tournament.
The Hornets trailed early but were able to make up ground late in the 4th taking a 7-point lead with two minutes remaining. However a strong surge by Aquinas was too much for the Hornets as they fell 86-82. Leading scorers for the Hornets were Kulbir Grewal and Manveer Brar with 19, and Gurshan Dhaliwal added 16.
The loss was a tough one as it ended any hopes of winning the championship and also the chance of finishing in the top eight.
The Hornets’ next game was against #16 Prince Charles. In an up and down game the Hornets finally got rolling in the 4th as they raced out to a 20-point lead.
With the bench playing the last three minutes, Prince Charles made a run closing to within seven of the Hornets but they could not get any closer as the Hornets won 92-85.
The Hornets set a goal to finish the tournament with three wins and win the consolation final.
In their next game the Hornets faced off against the feisty Delview squad. It was a shooting affair in which both teams took leads. In the final 30 seconds of the game the Raiders took a one-point lead. With nine seconds left the Hornets took a missed Delview shot the length of the court and on a precise pass from Gurshan Dhaliwal to Harmeet Brar sealed the win with a strong power layup.
Gurshan Dhaliwal scored 28 and was named player of the game. Kulbir Grewal had 23 and Justin (supersub) added 15.
In the consolation final the Hornets faced off against #7 Cambie of Vancouver. Once again the Hornets played an up and down game. But in the 4th quarter the Hornets took the lead and never looked back as they won 96-86.
Gurshan Dhaliwal had 29 points and won his second straight player of the game award. Kulbir Grewal who played steady all week long added 25, and Manjot Dhaliwal broke out of his slump as he contributed 18 points in the victory.
The Hornets finished the tournament in 9th place. The Hornets were 27-8 overall, all in all a great season.
By Mo Basso
