Players from the Thompson Okanagan proved they can run with the best basketball talent the province has to offer at the U14 level.
Both the Zone 2 boys and girls teams captured gold medals at the Basketball B.C. Zone Championships last weekend in Langley.
The Thompson Okanagan U14 teams, which will also compete at the B.C. Summer Games July 19 to 22 in Cowichan, finished the tournament with a combined 8-1 record.
The T.O. girls, wearing red, went a perfect 4-0 en route to the championship. After opening with a 58-51 win over Fraser River Friday,the Zone 2 squad defeated North West (Zone 7) 56-16 to earn a bye into the semifinals.
In the crossover semi, Zone 2 jumped out to a 16-0 lead over Fraser Valley (Zone 3) and coasted to a 41-30 win.
In the championship final, Thompson Okanagan completed its gold medal run with a 39-28 victory over Vancouver Coastal (Zone 5).
On the boys draw, Thompson-Okanagan opened up with an 80-21 win Friday over the Vancouver Island (Zone 6) U13 team. Zone 2 then posted a 69-49 victory over Fraser River (Zone 4) before falling by four to Vancouver-Coastal (Zone 5), 62-58.
Still first in their pool, the select U14 boys from the Thompson Okanagan downed Vancouver Island (Zone 6) 60-45 in the semifinal.
In the final Zone 2 once again outlasted the orange team from Zone 4 (Fraser River) 55-46, to bring home a dual championship for the Thompson Okanagan.
The tournament helps determine seeding for the 5-on-5 portion of the basketball competition at the upcoming B.C. Summer Games.
For basketball at the Games, the age groups are U13 and U14.
The U14 teams play traditional 5-on-5 games, while the U13 teams play 3-on-3 basketball.
Of note, the Thompson Okanagan teams finished with a gold and a bronze in the girls 3-of-3 on May 19 in Kelowna.
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