December 15 to 17 was a great weekend for Cranbrook high school basketball. The Mount Baker Junior Girls team just completed their third straight week of travel to Calgary in order to attend Bishop Grandin’s Junior Girls’ Invitational.
Despite Kierra Ker being unable to play all weekend due to an ankle injury, and then Josie Mackie having to miss part of the final game after reinjuring her own ankle during the first quarter of the final game, the Junior Girls team placed second overall, with a record of seven wins, two losses, crediting bench depth as a factor of their success. Their two losses were at the hands of Western Canada High School, the top ranked team with a student population of 2,200.
The girls all played hard and Asia Mullin and Talia Stepan both received Player of the Game Awards, while Summer Blackmore was named All-Star. The girls will now travel to Okotoks after Christmas break for a tournament at Foothills Composite High School from January 12 to 13.
The Senior Boys team travelled to Castlegar, where they played some close games and wound up being champions of the tournament hosted by Stanley Humphries Secondary School.
The SHSS Invitational included Castlegar, Nakusp, Trail, Creston, Nelson, Cranbrook, Fernie and South Slocan. The boys played Nelson, Creston in the semi finals and Castlegar for the championship. The Castlegar team had many players who play with the boys in Club Basketball, making for some good, friendly rivalry between the teams and their coaches.
The boys reportedly won every game they played by at least 30 points.