Despite some seriously inclement weather, junior boys and senior girls basketball teams at the local high schools hosted play days last weekend, with schedules rearranged around cancelled appearances by Prince Rupert, Kitimat and Terrace teams.
Bulkley Valley Christian School hosted junior boys, with teams from BVCS, Smithers Secondary School, Nisga’a Secondary and Houston Secondary.
The day started out with Houston Secondary facing Smithers’ B team. Smithers won the game, and their A team followed up with a win over BVCS. Nisga’a then faced the A team from SSS, which picked up a second win. Houston Secondary took the chance to redeem their earlier loss, beating BVCS in the fourth game. To end the day, Nisga’a beat the Smithers B team.
The SSS gym, meanwhile, was the site of Senior Girls basketball action on Friday and Saturday, with teams from SSS, Hazelton, Houston, Houston Christian and BVCS.
Friday night started out with a local showdown between BVCS and the Smithers girls B team. BVCS won the game, but the Gryphons bounced back, winning the next game against Hazelton.
Saturday morning began with Houston Secondary beating the Smithers B team. Next up was Houston Christian School and the Smithers A team. HCS is ranked second in the province for A level high schools, and although they beat the Gryphons, the 49-44 score was closer than previous games between the two schools. Morgane Cren, a French exchange student studying at SSS, led the Gryphons with an impressive 21 points. Saturday’s third game was Houston Secondary and BVCS. At the half, Houston led by 20. BVCS mounted a comeback to take the lead in the fourth, but couldn’t quite hold on, losing 52-47. The final game was a rematch of the Gryphons A team against Houston Christian. HCS won the game by a wider margin this time, which Smithers coach Margaret Groves said was partly due to less practice than she’d like.
“It comes down to stamina, and we just didn’t have it today,” she said.