Alberni District Secondary School’s senior girls basketball team has won the Island Championship. It is the first time an Alberni basketball team has been crowned Vancouver Island champions in more than 20 years.
The Alberni Armada won all three of their games in Victoria over the weekend, starting with a 63-17 win against the Ballenas Whalers on Thursday. On Friday, Port Alberni won 50-37 against the Carihi Tyees. Head coach Ryan Broekhuizen said this was a “battle” of a game.
“[Carihi] pressed a lot of the game,” he said. “They put pressure on our offence. But we struggled it out and got the win.”
READ MORE: Alberni senior girls win North Island basketball championship
Alberni was the first-ranked team in the North Island going into the tournament. On Saturday, Port Alberni faced the Stelly’s Stingers, the top-ranked South Island team and host of the tournament. Alberni won 57-36.
“We played the best game of our lives,” said Broekhuizen. “We were the better team this weekend. We have so much offensive talent, and our defence was out of this world.”
Overall, said Broekhuizen, it was an “incredible” weekend for the team—and an historic one. The last Port Alberni team to win an Island Championship title was the ADSS senior boys in 1997. The last time the senior girls won was in 1987.
The ADSS girls had a dominant season. Their current record is 20-2, with the only two losses coming against AAAA teams (Port Alberni’s team is AAA).
Provincials will take place at the Langley Events Centre on March 2-5. It will be a “cool experience” for the girls, said Broekhuizen, with opening ceremonies and thousands of spectators.
“Our goal at the beginning of the year was to make provincials,” said Broekhuizen. “We just changed that goal. We want to do something at provincials. We want to win a bunch of games, and possibly bring home a provincial title.”
elena.rardon@albernivalleynews.com
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