The Dawson Creek Secondary (DCSS) senior boys’ basketball team took home the consolation trophy at the Pow Wow Invitational in Grande Prairie this weekend.
The Penguins downed Peace River 86-78 in a seesaw battle to win the B-side final on Saturday at host school Grande Prairie Composite.
“It was back and forth all the way,” said head coach Richard Payne. “The boys were able to handle the pressure and finished strong. They were able to hold the press and get the buckets when we needed them.”
The Penguins took a two-point lead into half before extending the cushion to 15 to close out the third.
However, costly Penguins’ turnovers in the last quarter allowed the Pioneers to take a two-point lead of their own. But down a basket the Penguins’ full-court press took over leading to easy hoops.
“We turned the ball over a few times and they [Peace River] went up by two and we pressed them again and our boys held it together got the lead after that.”
After losing their first game 88-70 to eventual third-place winners G.P. Comp the Pens’ knocked off Beaverlodge 61-48 to reach the consolation round.
On the girls’ side, DCSS also reached the consolation final but fell short against North Peace Secondary 49-13. The senior girls made the consolation with a 41 -25 victory over Peace Wapiti of Grande Prairie.
Hosts G.P. Comp won the senior girls’ championships handily with a 52-31 win over St. Joe’s, also of Grande Prairie. The boys’ final went to North Peace who edged out Peace Wapiti 75-70 to win their third tournament of the season.
Dawson Creek’s Andrew Knee was selected to the boys’ all-star team and Danelle Gibson took the honour for the girls.
In other high school hoops news, the Middle Central School junior girls visited Tumbler Ridge for a four-team tournament where they placed second. MCS suffered a single loss to Dr. Kearney Middle School of Fort St. John, while downing host Tumbler Ridge and Chetwynd.
