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Chilliwack Storm surge in high school hoops

After a long down period, the CSS senior boys and girls teams have both had successful seasons.
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It has been an amazing hoops season at Chilliwack secondary, with the senior girls and boys teams achieving success not seen in many, many years.

Not since Joe Ogmundson roamed the sideline and players like Sarah and Nicole Wierks, Courtney Bartel and Alexa McCarthy patrolled the court have the CSS senior girls been a Fraser Valley contender.

With wins in their last two regular season games (70-59 against Mission and 61-55 against Maple Ridge), the Storm finished the 2018-19 regular season with a 7-3 record in league play and a 15-5 record overall.

They played their Fraser Valley tier-two playoff opener Wednesday (after Progress press deadlines), feeling good about possibly finishing top four.

“It has been an exciting year of basketball, and we are fortunate to have a group of outstanding and dedicated athletes who, by their actions both on and off the court, are a credit to their school and their community,” said CSS assistant coach Don Young.

Meanwhile, the Storm boys finished their regular season with a 6-2 record, losing twice to the perennial powerhouse Yale Lions of Abbotsford.

CSS beat the Lions 70-65 in a Fraser Valley east playoff game, advancing to Fraser Valley playoffs as the No. 15 seed. They opened Wednesday night (after Progress press deadlines) with a win-or-go-home game against the No. 18 seed Pinetree (Coquitlam) Timberwolves and a chance to advance further than they have since 1995.

No matter the result, head coach Chris Reilly says the program has taken a big step forward.

“We are really proud of how our players have improved both individually and as a team,” he said. “We are playing our best basketball of the season right now and are excited at the opportunity to compete at the Fraser Valleys.”



Eric Welsh

About the Author: Eric Welsh

I joined the Chilliwack Progress in 2007, originally hired as a sports reporter.
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