The G.W. Graham Grizzlies finished third at AA basketball provincials, held Wednesday through Saturday in Kamloops.
The Grizzlies opened the tournament with a 93-58 demoltion of the Charles Hayes RainMakers (Prince Rupert). Lucas Mannes and Cody Hansen had 22 points apiece to pace the offence.
The Grizzlies continued rolling in their second game, a 72-64 win over North Vancouver’s Windsor secondary school Dukes.
Josiah Cockrill had 21 points with Fran Armengual adding 15.
GWG finally found an obstacle they couldn’t overcome in the semi-final, dropping a 72-55 decision to the St. Thomas More Knights.
Mannes had 22 points.
“Our goal was to win a provincial championship, so the team was very disappointed with our loss in the semi-final,” said GWG coach Jake Mouritzen. “But the time spent together in the changing room following the loss is what school athletics is all about. The emotion, pride, passion, spirit, sadness and love really demonstrated the pure power of Graham athletics.”
The Grizzlies bounced back in impressive fashion in the bronze medal game, beating Mill Bay’s Brentwood College 64-54.
Mannes had 16 points.
Armengual and Cockrill had 13 apiece with Cockrill adding 10 rebounds.
“I was very proud of how the boys were able to regroup following the semi-final loss,” Mouritzen said. “They played one of their best games of the year against Brentwood.”
Mannes was named to the tournament all-star team.