The BVCS Royals basketball program has a lot to celebrate after both their junior boys and girls basketball teams won their zone tournaments last weekend.
On Saturday afternoon the junior girls got into action against Houston Secondary after a bye into the second round of the competition as the number one seed.
Tori Mager led the team with 14 points, en route to a 30 point Royals’ victory over Houston.
The win moved the Royals directly into the final, where they met Charles Hays, a team they had beaten by 30 points earlier in the season.
In the early going, the Royals gave themselves a comfortable lead and put it in cruise control until a late fourth quarter run by Charles Hays, sparked by an intense full-court press, brought the underdogs back into the game.
In the end, the Royals found a way to beat the press, and come out with a nine-point win to take the zone title.
The Royals could have played better in the championship, but it was still enough to get the job done.
“It wasn’t our best performance,” head coach Veronica Mager said. “But we stuck with it. They knew what it would take to come out with a victory.”
After the game, Mager singled out Emily Stolte and Hannah Joseph for their mental toughness and leadership.
The win put an exclamation point on the Royals’ undefeated season.
“I am really proud of the girls,” Mager added.
“It was a great team and a really good group of girls.”
The BVCS junior boys also played an undefeated tournament in their zone competition.
In their opening game against SSS, they put on a defensive clinic, holding the normally high scoring Gryphons to just nine points.
“It was incredible defence,” head coach Kevin Goodson said.
“Our guys down low played a great game.”
After the tournament, forward Josh Veenstra was selected as an all-star for his defensive play.
The win moved the Royals into the final against Hazelton later that night.
The final was a tightly contested affair that went right down to the wire.
“They were very tough to play against,” Goodson said.
“Every time we built up a lead, they fought back.”
Down by single digits in the game’s final moments, Hazelton’s full-court press brought them back to within four points.
But the Royals were able to beat the press, as Adam Veenstra hit some big three pointers down the stretch to give them a 36-32 win.
“It was a really good game, really tense and I’m proud of the way our guys played,” Goodson said.
“We got better and better as a team as the season went on and by the end of the year we had really built up our confidence.”
Ty Goodson was named tournament MVP.
The SSS junior teams both had successful results over the weekend.
After a tough loss to BVCS in their first game, the boys rebounded with two straight wins over Houston Christian and Centennial to finish third at their zone tournament.
The SSS girls lost their first play-in game on Friday evening at home, but came back undaunted on Saturday with two straight wins to finish fifth overall.