The Maple Ridge Ramblers senior girls’ basketball team pulled off an opening round upset at the 2012 B.C. AAA Senior Girls’ High School Basketball Championships Wednesday night in North Vancouver, bumping off the Handsworth Royals, the No. 5 team in the province, by a score of 67-62.
“This was a big win for us, for sure, Handsworth is a very good team” said Ramblers head coach Don Herman. “But there are a lot of good teams at provincials.”
With the win, the No. 10-ranked Ramblers are through to the tournament quarterfinals, while knocking Handsworth out of contention for the provincial title.
The Royals entered the tournament as the No. 2 Lower Mainland seed, while Maple Ridge was the No. 6 seed from the Fraser Valley.
The Ramblers fell behind early in the game, and were on the wrong side of a 20-8 score in the first quarter.
Despite being down 12 points, Maple Ridge proceeded to go on a 23-5 run to close out the first half up 35-29.
Handsworth managed to tie the game 49-49 early in the fourth quarter, but the Ramblers wouldn’t relinquish the lead, finishing five points up on the Royals when the final buzzer sounded.
The Ramblers offence was led by Kolbie Orum, who single-handedly scored 34 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.
“She seems to enjoy that environment when the pressure is on,” Herman said. “She really elevated her game yesterday.”
Lauren Lamont scored 13 points, all in the fourth quarter, while Haeley Williams had eight points, 10 rebounds, and six assists.
“Lauren was very clutch for us and played very well defensively,” said Herman. “At the end of the game we were ahead by two, and Handsworth started to foul us and Lauren hit five of six free throws. Very clutch.”
With the win, the Ramblers are through to the tournament quarterfinals Thursday night against the No. 6-ranked South Kamloops Titans at Capilano University at 5:15 p.m.
• Visit <a href="basketball.bc.ca/aaagirls/">the tournament website</a> to follow the Ramblers’ progress at the 2012 B.C. AAA Senior Girls’ High School Basketball Championships.