The Salmon Arm Junior Golds tipped off their basketball season at the Fulton Classic tournament on the weekend. The Golds faced the South Kam Titans in their opening game and came away with a 47-43 win. Westlee Bischoff was the high scorer with 14 points, followed by Sam Wong, Paul Beevor-Potts and Lenny DePatie with six each. Morgan Crandlemire controlled the rebounds to secure the victory.
The Golds struggled to score against the talented Valleyview Vikings in the semifinal, and lost 40-18. The team played well defensively, but Stephen Kooistra’s three-point hoop was the only offensive highlight.
In their final game, against Fulton, the Golds appeared to find their scoring stroke again, as Bischoff scored eight of his team’s 17 first-quarter points. The Golds, however, tired in the second half and Fulton cruised to a 57-39 win. Bischoff finished with 13 points, Wong hit for eight and Crandlemire seven.
The Golds host Pleasant Valley in a league game Thursday, 7 p.m., at the Jackson campus, with the Junior Jewels playing at 5:30.
Good beginning
In Junior Jewels tournament action at Kelowna Secondary, the team finished third. They played well defensively in their first game but were defeated by Mt. Boucherie 47-22. High scorers were Trice Tuaiti with 11 points, Marisa LaTosky with 10 and Carly McDonald with six. Player of the game was Tuaiti.
Next up was a close game with Pen High. The Jewels were trailing, but with four minutes to go, they went ahead by three. Then some easy hoops were given up to Penticton, who won 46-42. Tuiati notched 16 points, Alyson Bannister eight, LaTosky, who was player of the game, six.
The final game was versus SaHali, a 54-36 loss. Zayhna Lewis scored 16, Tuaiti 10, and Bannister, who was player of the game, nine. Lewis was named defensive player of the tournament.
Power player
On Dec. 6 the Jewels lost their first league game to No. 1 provincially ranked South Kamloops Titans 84-45. The girls played hard but were outgunned by a talented team. Titans #21 Grade 11 student Emma Wolfram (six-ft, five-in. centre) scored 32 points. She played in the Pan American games in Mexico last summer for the Canadian Women’s Basketball team. All Jewel scorers were in single digits. A game highlight was Jordan Haskell’s full-court drive to score a layup.
Next Jewel action is Friday, Dec. 16 in a tournament at Dover Bay, Nanaimo. The Jewels close pre-Christmas play with homecoming games Dec. 22 and 23 at 6 p.m.