Grade 8 KLO Cougars live up to top ranking

First-place finishers in the regular season, the KLO Cougars retained the No. 1 ranking and won the Central Okanagan Grade 8 girls basketball championship on the weekend.
The Cougars, led by Alley Corrado's 12 points, which that included a three-point basket with a minute remaining, defeated the second-seeded Okanagan Mission Huskies 36-24 in the championship game played at KLO Middle School.
Speed guard Courtney Donaldson added 11 points for the champions, who also received a six-point effort from Jayne Reid.
KLO, sporting a 21-0 season record going into the Central Okanagan playoffs, opened the tournament by defeating the No. 4 seed, Heritage Christian School, 60-29 in semifinal play.
Meanwhile, the No. 2-ranked Huskies, led by Kiara Gaspari, earned a berth in the final against KLO by defeating No. 3 Dr. Knox Falcons, led by Marin Felt's 8-for-10 effort from the free throw line.
Knox went on to defeat Heritage Christian for third place.
Other members of KLO's championship team, coached by Jay Corrado, Ken Reid and Dennis Miller, are Sydney Burke, Emile Rogers, Callie Miller, Gabby Cradock, Danika Lee and Janel Filipiack.

Jr. Owls runners-up in PoCo tournament

The Riverside Rapids went on a quick eight-point run in overtime to defeat the Kelowna Owls 56-49 in the final of a junior girls basketball tournament in Port Coquitlam on the weekend.
The Owls, who received a 21-point performance Hannah Friesen, the player of the game, had come back from a nine-point deficit to send the game into OT.
The Rapids were ranked No. 2 in the province going into the weekend, while the Owls were seeded eighth.
Friesen was also the player-of-the-game in the Owls' semifinal win over the Charles Best Blue Devils of Coquitlam. Teammate Selma Kusterica scored 16 points to earn the player of the game honour as the Owls defeated the New Westminster Hyacks in their first game.
The top players defensively for the Owls were Paige Briscoe and Avery Watson.

Free Jr. Heat ID camps set for UBCO Feb. 3

The first free identification basketball camps for the 2013 Junior Heat club teams will be held Feb. 3 at UBC Okanagan's gymnasium.
The under-13 (born in 2000) boys and girls ID camp is set for 9 a.m., while the under-14 camp goes from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
A third session, for under-15 boys and girls, is set for 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m., and the U-16 boys and girls will take to the court from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The final session, for the U-17 boys and girls is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and goes until 5 p.m.
Additional tryout dates will be set shortly after the initial ID camps.
For more information on the Junior Heat, go online to https:news.ok.ubc.ca/ juniorheat.

Allen's 37 points leads 9-2 LifeMark

A 37-point outburst by Martina Allen paced LifeMark Physio to a 74-56 win over Lake Country Building Centre and helped keep her team remain a tie for second place in the Kelowna Women's Basketball League this week.
Jacquie Lalonde added 18 points and Mandy Trenholm netted another 15 in the win that upped LifeMark's season record to 9-2. Lake Country, dropping to 6-5, were led offensively by Allison Werner and Ashlee Williams, each of whom contributed 14 points in a losing cause. Laura Campbell scored 13 points and Emma Woo had 12.
ServCo Surge kept pace with LifeMark by waltzing to a 71-32 decision over the winless Crazy 8s.
Kim Whelpton's 29 points set the pace for the winners, who also got a 20-point effort from Bailey Radley. Katie Van de Sype chipped in with 12. Erika Stewart was the top scorer for the 8s with 16, while Laura Graham chipped in with seven.
Triple Threat remained unbeaten in 11 games, downing the 2-9 Lakeview Market Rainmakers 67-43.
Deb Sandberg scored 23 points to lead the TT attack that included 14 points from Kirsten Mulleny and 11 from Chandra Hauer. The Rainmakers' top pointgetter was Mel Coon with 18. Wendy Jansen and Trish Waugh both finished with eight points.
The other game on Sunday at UBC Okanagan saw the Rookies improve to 5-6 by defeating the 2-9 Blue Steel 85-62.