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Lady Ramblers punch ticket to B.C. finals

Grade 10 Kolbie Arum leads MRSS seniors to provincials
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Grade 10 centre Kolbie Orum had another dominating performance as she led the Maple Ridge secondary Lady Ramblers senior girls’ basketball team to a berth in the provincial finals Tuesday night with a 62-49 win over the Centennial Centaurs at home.Orum, who stands six-foot-three, put up 30 points, collected 18 rebounds and blocked eight shots as the Ramblers dominated the Centaurs in their second round meeting in the Fraser Valley championships.The win means Maple Ridge is guaranteed of at least fourth place in the tournament, and thus qualifies for the provincial tournament for the second year in a row.“She is a force,” said Ramblers head coach Don Herman of his star centre. “She’s just so athletic, she can run, she can jump, she can shoot.“It’s exciting to think about what the future holds.”Natasha Henderson and Coral Lee Antaya also put in strong performances for Maple Ridge, Herman said.“The whole team played very well,” he said. “I thought we played really tough defensively, and I thought we were the more relaxed team.“I think that made the difference.”The Lady Ramblers got off to a 23-8 start after the first quarter, and never looked back. The team built their lead to 17 points at the half as they led 39-22, and were up by as much as 30 points in the second half.The game might not have been as close as it was had Centennial not scored the final 10 points of the game in the last two minutes of play.Herman said he was expecting more a push back from the Centaurs team that beat the Lady Ramblers in overtime in their last meeting.“It was a bit of a surprise for sure,” said Herman. “It was a big game, a chance to clinch a spot in provincials, and I think maybe they lost their focus.The Lady Ramblers will face WJ Mouat tonight (Friday) in the Fraser Valley semi-finals. The No. 1 team in the province will be Maple Ridge’s toughest test yet at the Fraser Valley finals“They play a full-court man-to-man defense, and that can really wear us down,” said Herman. “I think we’ll need to share the ball more to break their pressure.”