It's been a big week for basketball at the Langley School District.
Last week, the Brookswood Secondary Bobcats' senior girls team - led by coach Chrissy Nohr - capped an amazing season with a provincial 3A championship, defeating the St. Michael's University Blue Jags 69-63 in overtime.
And this week, when the boys' 4A tournament tipped off at the Langley Events Centre, the R.E. Mountain Eagles were there for the first time in nearly four decades. The R.E. Mountain squad punched their ticket to the big dance in late February, with a victory over another Langley team, the Walnut Grove Gators.
The Brookswood senior girls were the No. 1 seed in the 3A tournament, and earned victories over Caledonia Secondary (Terrace), College Heights Secondary (Prince George), before squaring off against Reynolds Secondary (Victoria) in the semifinals. A 73-51 victory in that game sent them to the final against the No. 2 Blue Jags, alma mater of former NBA star Steve Nash.
Brookswood took an early lead in overtime, sparked by a no-look, behind-the-back pass from Grade 9 star Jordyn Nohr to Grade 12 teammate Bryn Symons, who capped her final high school game with a layup. The Bobcats never trailed in OT, and the home crowd went wild at the final buzzer.
"We're so proud of our team. They worked so hard to get here and performed so well against some of the best competition in B.C. Their dedication, hard work and resilience is a great example of what it means to be a Bobcat," said Brookswood Secondary principal Lisa Ellis.
In the boys' tournament, which like the girls' event last week was played at the Langley Events Centre, the R.E. Mountain Eagles nearly pulled off an upset for the ages, giving No. 3 seeded West Vancouver Secondary all they could handle. And though the No. 14 seed Eagles eventually lost 67-59 to their much higher seeded opponents, they were within one point at halftime and after a strong third quarter led by seven headed into the fourth quarter.
No matter the outcome of Wednesday's game, simply qualifying for the provincial tournament was a huge accomplishment for the Eagles players and coaches, considering the length of time between provincial appearances for the school.
"It's been a long time since an R.E Mountain senior boys basketball team has made it to provincials, and we are so happy for our players and coaches to have reached this milestone," said R.E. Mountain Secondary principal Paul Trattle.
"It really shows the growth and development of our basketball program, and we are proud to have them represent our school at B.C. Boys Basketball Championships this week."
