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Momentum carries Knights into Invitational on a high

There's nothing like a win streak to start the season. The St.
Knights post
St. Thomas More's Maddy McRae, at right, reaches for a rebound while teammate Cassiel Penalosa watches during the team's Chancellor tournament opener last week in Burnaby.

There's nothing like a win streak to start the season.

The St. Thomas More Knights are making the most of the first few weeks of the senior girls basketball season, stacking up a series of impressive wins in which to build a run towards the 2-A provincial tournament in March.

The Knights ran the table at their own STM Chancellor tournament last week, capped by a 54-36 win over No. 7-ranked Lambrick Park on Saturday.

It came on the heels of a 73-40 triumph over West Van in the semifinals, after kicking off the tourney by blasting Centennial 55-23.

“The girls played well (at the Chancellor),” remarked STM coach Jen Farano. “Every game was used as a learning experience and for them to build on. The biggest challenge for them was remembering our plays and where to go on offence and defence because we'd only had two practices prior to the tournament.”

The lack of practices didn’t show on the scoreboard, as the team fended off some serious challenges but had more moments of control in each game.

Grade 12 guard Cassiel Penalosa was named the tourney MVP, while Gigi Gaspar was selected to the first all-star squad. Picking up the top defensive player award was Grade 11 Kate Stewart Barnett.

“Cassiel had a great tournament. She was named MVP for her ability to push tempo, get our team going in transition and taking charge of how our offense ran. She was able to score, play great defence, and feed others who were able to score,” said Farano.

It carried over to this week, as they jumped feet first into the Tsumura senior girls Invitational in Langley, requiring overtime to edge Panorama Ridge 74-71 on Wednesday.

Deadlocked 66-66, STM carved out a lead in the extra session, triggered by Bella Gaspar’s three-point shot. Gigi Gaspar and Penalosa each dropped a team-high 18 points against the 4-A honourably mentioned Thunder, who got a game-high 38 points from Arman Dulai.

The extra-time thriller was another big accomplishment, coming with three players sidelined to injury and testing the Knights’ depth.

The win propels STM into today’s (Thursday) quarterfinal, 3 p.m., against No. 5-ranked 4-A Brookswood, at the Langley Events Centre.