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Wildcats cruising back to provincials, Sharks elminated

McMath looks to cap dominating three days at South Fraser playoffs tonight
basketball
Dana Sander and the Steveston-London Sharks saw their season end on Wednesday night at the South Fraser 3A playoffs after a semi-final loss to the Delta Pacers.

The McMath Wildcats senior girls basketball team is cruising back to provincials while the Steveston-London Sharks’ season came to a tough end on Wednesday night.

The Wildcats did the expected and secured a BC berth with an easy 111-38 victory over Surrey’s Queen Elizabeth Royals in semi-final action at the South Fraser 3A Zone Playoffs. The hosts will meet the Delta Pacers in tonight’s title game (7 p.m.) with both teams already assured berths in the inaugural 16-team BC 3A Championships slated for Feb. 26-29 at the Langley Events Centre.

The only suspense for the Wildcats over the past couple of weeks is will they surpass the 100-point plateau on their way to victory? It started at the Richmond Championships and has certainly carried over to the zone tourney as well. 

Look for the province’s fourth ranked team to schedule an exhibition game against a provincial-bound 4A opponent in the coming week to make sure they are ready for much tougher encounters at the LEC.

Back in November, the Sharks were a good bet to be joining their rivals in Langley. Instead, a turbulent couple of weeks concluded with a 63-56 loss to the Pacers.

A pair of lopsided losses to the Wildcats, including last week’s city final, seemed to have waned their confidence.  They nearly let a big lead slip away in a 72-68 overtime win against Salish on Tuesday and were in catch-up mode much of the night against Delta after falling behind 18-7 in the opening quarter.

Some effective trapping defence brought them back and the game was tied at 49-49 early in the fourth quarter. However, they struggled to hit shots down the stretch — paving the way for the Pacers to earn their first BC berth in decades.

Mina Chong had 17 points. Shir Dayan added 11.

At the South Fraser 2A Championships in South Surrey, the Hugh Boyd Trojans and RC Palmer Griffins saw their seasons come to an end with semi-final losses. 

The Trojans fell 48-34 to Holy Cross while the Griffins dropped a 71-45 decision to the host Southridge Storm.