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Vernon Christian School Royals, Kalamalka Lakers advance to Elite 8s

Royals win opener in provincial senior girls basketball tournament debut Wednesday, March 2
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Abby Vass of the Vernon Christian Royals (6) dishes the ball to teammate Macie Lewis during the third-seeded Royals’ 69-41 victory over the Nisga’a Nighthawks in their first-ever game at the B.C. 1A senior girls basketball championships Wednesday, March 2, in Kelowna. (Jake Courtepatte - Black Press Media)

The Vernon Christian School Royals are into the Elite Eight at the B.C. 1A Senior Girls Basketball Championships at Kelowna Christian School.

The third-seeded Royals – playing their first-ever game in school history at the provincial finals – dispatched the 14th-seeded Nisga’a Nighthawks of New Aiyansh, near Terrace, 69-41 in their opening game Wednesday afternoon, March 2.

Caitlin Gingras was named player of the game for Vernon Christian School while Laney Munroe took the honour for Nisga’a.

The victory earns the Royals a berth in Thursday’s quarterfinals at 7 p.m. They will take on the winner of a game between sixth-seeded Pacific Christian Pacers of Victoria and the 11th-rated Khalsa Lions from Surrey.

B.C. 2A

The Kalamalka Lakers from Coldstream also advanced to the Elite Eight at their provincial finals in Langley.

The sixth-seeded Lakers, the Okanagan champions, downed the Lambrick Park Lions of Victoria 56-44 in their tournament opener Wednesday afternoon.

Kalamalka will play a quarterfinal matchup Thursday, March 3, against the winner between second-ranked York House Tigers of Vancouver and the Selkirk Storm from Kimberley, seeded 15th. Tip-off is at 3:30 pm.

READ MORE: Vernon Christian School Royals seeded No. 3 for B.C.’s