Port Coquitlam’s Riverside Rapids senior girls basketball team served notice it still has championship inclinations despite the graduation of its star player the last three seasons, Avery Sussex.
The Rapids beat the Semiahmoo Thunderbirds 85-29 in their opening round game at the Tsumura Invitational tournament, Wednesday, Dec. 11, at the Langley Events Centre (LEC).
Sussex’s heiress apparent, 5’10” senior guard Jorja Hart, scored 33 points for the Rapids, which built a 30-6 lead in the first quarter and never slowed down from there.
Guard Mikella Campanile had 19 points for Riverside, all but four of them in the second half.
The Rapids, which failed to repeat its 2023 championship when it lost the 2024 provincial final 79-73 to the Seaquam Seahawks, entered the tournament ranked third in the province.
The young Thunderbirds are comprised mostly of players who moved up to the senior ranks from last year’s provincial junior championship team.
Riverside will play GW Graham in Thursday’s quarterfinals, Dec. 12, 4:30 p.m. at the LEC.
Centennial swarmed by South Delta
Coquitlam's Centennial Secondary lost its opening game in the Tsumura tournament’s Select 16 bracket, 84-58, to South Delta.
The Centaurs trailed 53-287 at halftime, but stayed even through the second half as each team scored 31 points.
Terricka Belanger scored 23 points for Centennial and Amalie Griffiths netted 17.
The Dr. Charles Best Blue Devils played the Brookswood Bobcats, the reigning AAA provincial champions, in their opening round game of the Super 16 bracket late Wednesday afternoon, while the Heritage Woods Kodiaks opened its play in the Select 16 bracket against the Mark R. Isfeld Ice Wednesday evening.
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