A gold medal wasn’t to be for either Kelowna team, but the Kelowna Christian Knights and Heritage Christian Saints both returned home with some hardware from the B.C. high school boys A basketball championship.
The Knights reached the final on Saturday in Langley before falling 68-63 to the B.C. Christian Academy Panthers.
B.C. Christian, based in Port Coquitlam, is coached by Gib Hinz, a familiar face to the Knights’ basketball program. Hinz led KCS to four B.C. titles in a five-year span between 2008 and 2012.
Kelowna Christian’s road to the silver medal included victories over Deer Lake Christian (101-64), Credo Christian (58-56) and 75-72 over Ron Pettigrew Christian in overtime in the semifinal.
The Knights’ Carter Martens was named to the tournament’s first all-star team, while teammates Jackson Katler and Jackson Borne were second team selections.
Meanwhile, the HCS Saints won a bronze medal in their first ever trip to B.C. championship, defeating Ron Pettigrew 93-86 in Saturday’s 3rd/4th place.
Heritage also defeated Mugrave School and Sparwood Christian (104-88), before losing to eventual champion B.C. Christian 80-76 in the semifinal round.
Sam Bell of the Saints was named to the first all-star team, while Raymond Thompson-Barrett earned second team honours.
Heritage Christian won its first ever Okanagan Valley A boys title last month in Osoyoos.