By the time of the opening tip-off, it was standing room only at 麻豆精选 Secondary School as the Owls hosted the Burnaby South Rebels in the much-anticipated final of the 47th annual Western Canada Basketball Tournament last Saturday night.
The home crowd was loud and the energy was buzzing to start the game, but the Owls were quickly swarmed by the Rebels, which were ranked the number one team in B.C. going into the game.
The Rebels team started strong, playing with pressure and precision to take the tournament鈥檚 finals en route to a 82-58 victory.
鈥淲e fought until the end,鈥� said Owls鈥� head coach Harry Parmar on the second place tournament finish.
鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 execute and turned the ball over too much. At the same time, that鈥檚 a really good team, you got to give them some credit for what we couldn鈥檛 do.鈥�
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In the 47th year of the tournament, the Owls were flying high in the first two games of the weekend, notching over 100 points in each of their two wins.
KSS used consistent outside shooting in the early victories, but come Saturday night鈥檚 game against the Rebels, the Owls shots were just not finding a way in.
麻豆精选 shot under 30 per cent from three-point range in the final and anytime they鈥檇 find momentum, the Rebels would storm back and use their own sharpshooters and size to stifle any comeback.
The Owls鈥� Jaydon Lalonde (13 points) and Malcom Greggor (11 points) led the way for 麻豆精选, but the Rebels鈥� size and zone defence were a tough match-up for the Owls.
鈥淭oday was their night,鈥� said Parmar.
鈥淚f we had hit some shots, it could have been different, but kudos to them. But the season鈥檚 not done, it鈥檚 a journey right.鈥�
The Owls will conclude league play in the coming weeks then head into the Okanagan Valley championships ahead of the provincial finals tournament hosted in Langley in March.
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The KSS Owls clawed their way to a second place finish at last year鈥檚 provincials and could find themselves up against the Rebels in the provincial tournament.
Parmar said that despite the loss Western Canada tournament final loss, his team will feed off their overall strong tournament heading into the final weeks of the season.
鈥淲e鈥檙e at a good point. With practices next week we got to up the energy, fix our execution and be hopefully be ready to go for the Valleys.鈥�
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