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Condors win zones; Thunder finish fourth

The Williams Lake Thunder senior girls basketball team took fourth place on the weekend at the North Central Zone Basketball Championships.
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Williams Lake Thunder senior girls basketball player Ana Lomavatu puts up a shot through pressure Saturday during a game against College Heights.

The Williams Lake Thunder senior girls basketball team took fourth place on the weekend at the North Central Zone Basketball Championships in Williams Lake.

The Thunder hosted Prince George’s College Heights, DP Todd, Kelly Road, Nechako Valley and Duchess Park at Williams Lake Secondary School for the tournament, which began Friday and wrapped up Saturday evening.

The Thunder, who marched into the tournament as the fourth seed, finished the tournament with two wins and two losses to take fourth place.

Meanwhile, the Duchess Park Condors blew through the competition, beating Nechako Valley in the final, to earn a berth at the provincial championships.

Raj Lalli, coach of the Thunder, said it was a somewhat disappointing result at zones, but added, overall, the team put forth one of the most successful seasons WLSS has ever had.

“I think we were all a bit disappointed,” Lalli said. “But I think having the last month off didn’t help us at all. We hadn’t played in any tournaments since the middle of January so I think we lost our rhythm a bit.”

WLSS opened with a 60-57 win over College Heights, but dropped its second game to the Condors, 78-39, moving them to the bottom half of the bracket to attempt to play through the back door to the final.

Next, WLSS thumped Kelly Road, 47-20, before moving on to meet College Heights again in the quarterfinal. There, in a seesaw battle, College Heights squeaked out a 60-53 win after the Thunder got into foul trouble late.

“That was probably the best game of the tournament for us, even though we lost that one,” Lalli said. “That was the most competitive game we had all weekend — offensively and defensively — it was just back and forth.”

Thunder player Ana Lomavatu was named a first-team all-star in the tournament, while Thunder point guard Latasha Diaz was named a second-team all-star. Diaz also won the free throw contest Saturday.

Lalli added, overall, the girls should be proud of their season.

“I think overall this was definitely one of the most successful season WLSS has had,” she said.

“I think even if you look at the winning record — we won the Fulton tournament in Vernon and the Columneetza tournament here — and we came out of zones with two wins and two losses.”



Greg Sabatino

About the Author: Greg Sabatino

Greg Sabatino graduated from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops with a Bachelor of Journalism degree in 2008.
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