Grizzlies move on to finals
Photo: Submitted
(From left): Ryan MacKinnon (head coach), Reed Mitchell, Jack Boyes, Forest Bokser-Wishlow, Chase Lake, Gabe Liddell, Benjamin Stewart, Roman Van’t Land, Korban Ashley, Seth Kilpatrick, Elijah Marcum-McCormick, Matthew Fuhr (assistant coach) and Ross Naka (assistant coach).
The L.V. Rogers Grizzlies are off to the AA senior boys basketball provincial finals after the team secured the AA Kootenay championship.
The club posted a 25-5 season record and headed into the Kootenay zone tournament one week ago as the number one team in the seven-team regional tournament.
In the zone final, the Grizzlies punched their ticket to the provincial dance by beating Fernie 81-69 in a “thrilling final game,” said LVR head coach Ryan MacKinnon. The Grizzlies were led by Elijah Marcum-McCormick who scored 42 points, with Benjamin Stewart chipping in with 12 points.
In the semi-final leading up to the Fernie game, the Grizzlies faced J.L. Crowe Eagles from Trail, and pulled off a 77-46 win that did not tell the true tale of how difficult the game was, said MacKinnon.
“It was a tough and gritty game,” he said.
The Grizzlies were led by 15 points from Marcum-McCormick with 12 points added by Korban Ashley.
LVR now has qualified for the AA senior boys provincial tournament in Langley, March 4-7.
It will be the final high school basketball for seven of the 10 players on the Grizzlies squad, with graduating senior players including Forest Bokser-Wishlow, Chase Lake, Gabe Liddell, Benjamin Stewart, Roman Van’t Land, Korban Ashley and Jack Boyes.
