After a solid effort, the Lake City Falcons senior girls basketball team finished sixth during the weekend at a tournament at Prince George Secondary School.
Head coach Raji Lalli said, despite the team’s one-win, two-loss record, she was blown away by the team’s effort.
“We went with six players [to the tournament], two of whom were ill,” she said.
The Falcons took on PGSS first and were down by one point at the half.
“PGSS pressed us for the remaining two quarters and we lost by six, 64-56,” she said.
Falcons’ point guard Laura Pfleiderer got into foul trouble in the first half, however, had an outstanding offensive game knocking down 30 points, shooting 26 per cent from the field and hitting two of four three-point attempts. She also recorded four steals.
Alyssa Gossen, meanwhile, hauled down 15 rebounds — 10 offensive and five defensive — and chipped in nine points, while Kaitlyn Berkelaar added nine rebounds of her own.
“[It was] one of those games where you could honestly say that we just ran out of time,” Lalli said. “Alyssa and Kaitlyn had a great defensive presence in the key. It was truly an entertaining game. Laura exhibited a great competitive drive and over the last eight years I have helped coach the high school girls there have been five games that have stood out and this was one of those games. The fact that it was a loss didn’t matter to me.”
Next, the Falcons took on Correlieu secondary of Quesnel and won, 60-33. Pfleiderer, again, dominated on the offensive end scoring 25 points and chalking up 11 rebounds. Naomi Lomavatu scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds in the win.
“We controlled the pace of the game and were able to execute our offense,” Lalli said. “Another solid game by Laura.”
In the team’s last game Pfleiderer had to leave because of BC Rugby commitment.
The team, with five players, fell 50-37.
“We had low offensive production in the second half and a defensive breakdown in the fourth quarter due to fatigue,” she said.
Lomavatu had 16 points, Gossen had 12 points, Berkelaar had eight rebounds, Morgan Blois had seven points, five assists and six rebounds and Lori Saunders had two points, five rebounds, two assists and four steals.
Tournament all-stars were Pfleiderer and Lomavatu.
“Overall, I’m proud of the girls’ effort this weekend,” Lalli said. “Each player played their role well.”
The team will now travel to Fort St. John Feb. 18-20th for the North Central Zone Championships.