When an under-sized basketball team fails to shoot well from the outside, it's likely going to find nothing but trouble. Buckets of it.
The small, swift Riverside Rapids hit the skids in last Thursday's quarter-finals by failing to hit the net, eventually falling 72-70 in overtime to the South Kamloops Titans to spoil their bid for a B.C. AAA senior girls high school hoop crown.
To their credit, the scrappy Rapids bounced back to slam the Carson Graham Eagles 72-56 on Friday and then fended off another North Vancouver crew, the Argyle Pipers, 76-73 Saturday to place fifth among 16 teams at Capilano College.
Abbotsford's W.J. Mouat Hawks went on to win the title via a 69-64 triumph later over Victoria's Claremont Spartans.
Meanwhile, the Terry Fox Ravens won one of four games -- losing their last one 64-59 Saturday to the New Westminster Hyacks -- to finish 14th.
Against South Kam, the Rapids shot a dreadful 11-for-51 from the field and eight-for-44 from three-point land.
"We shot 19-for-95 [overall] and that should not beat anyone," said Rapids head coach Paul Langford. "But we got to overtime and could have won. We have a unique team in that we can beat anyone. We beat both teams [earlier this season] that made it to the final but, with our size, we can also lose to quite a few teams.
"I always tell the girls to enjoy the journey because the destination might not be what you want. We had a good season and can be proud."
Lack of size proved a factor down the stretch for the Rapids, whose tallest player is five-foot-10 and their other four starters are five-foot-seven or smaller. South Kam boasted two girls well over six feet, while Mouat and Claremont employed three and four six-foot-plus players respectively.
Riverside opened tourney play last Wednesday by drubbing Victoria's Spectrum Thunder 97-62, keyed by 23 points from Michelle Spacek, who was later named to the tourney's second all-star team. Megan Sherwood canned 15 in the Rapids' subsequent loss to South Kam, while Hillary Young and Laiken Cerenzie notched 14 each in Friday's win over Carson Graham. Sherwood again led the Rapids in their last game versus Argyle, tossing in 23 points.
Fox fell 77-32 to Claremont in their opener, then were edged 49-46 by Mission's Heritage Park Highlanders. The Ravens' lone win was a 54-52 victory Friday over Spectrum, before concluding play with their defeat to New West. Katie Devaney led the Ravens in their first three games, in which she scored a combined 54 points and was chosen a tourney honourable mention. Amy Nadasdi drained 18 to lead Fox against the Hyacks.
TIP-INS: Three Tri-City teams are taking part in this week's B.C. AAA senior boys hoop provincials at Langley Events Centre. Gleneagle Talons were set to play the Prince George Polars in a back-door game yesterday (Tuesday, after The Tri-City News' deadline) in a bid to make the Sweet 16 draw starting today. That's when the Heritage Woods Kodiaks -- polled No. 10 in the provincial rankings released Feb. 11 -- collide with the Argyle Pipers (8:30 a.m.) and the No. 5 Terry Fox Ravens take on the No. 6 Sir Charles Tupper Tigers (3 p.m.).
