As the expression goes, “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.” This was surly the case for British Columbia’s wheelchair basketball athletes. Apart from the awful rain we had on the weekend, the 2013-BC CWBL finals took place at Pinetree Community Centre in Coquitlam. The event began on Friday March 1st where the Division 1 Royals took another win over the Lions to secure their championship title for the season. Royals will represent BC at the CWBL Finals in Montreal April 12-14.
Saturday morning started out with a bang. The BC junior team, Gold Rush took on the Vintage Cable Cars and although they didn’t come out on top, they played one of their best games this season. On the other court was Kamloops taking on Okanagan with a solid 20 point win. The day progressed with 7 round robin games, each more exciting than the previous. Saturday evening brought a fun filled evening at the Executive Plaza Hotel in Coquitlam where BCWBS held the annual awards banquet. Congratulations to all the winners.
Bright and early Sunday morning the sun came out and it was the semi-finals! Victoria verse Tacoma and Kamloops verse Cable Cars. Each game hard fought battle was only won by a hair leaving Tacoma and Kamloops to play in the finals. The finals were as always the most exciting game of the weekend. Both teams fought until the last possible second with the Tacoma Titans taking the 2013 BC-CWBL title.
We would like to thank all of the volunteers for their time and hard work. A big thank-you goes to our sponsors and supporters for their grant funding support, sponsorships, and donation. We would like to thank the spectators for making the games more exciting and thanks and congrats to the athletes, coaches, and officials for another successful season!
Game Results:
Friday, March 1
DC Royals - DC Lions 71-48 (D1)
Saturday, March 2
Cable Cars vs Gold Rush 66-57
Okanagan vs Kamloops 41-61
Victoria vs Cable Cars 76-46
Tacoma vs Okanagan 56-38
Victoria vs Gold Rush 62-41
Tacoma vs Kamloops 55-69
DC Lions vs DC Royals 53-62 (D1)
Sunday, March 3
Victoria vs Tacoma 40-43 (Semi)
Kamloops vs Cable Cars 54-50 (Semi)
Gold Rush vs Okanagan 44-51 (5th place)
Victoria vs Cable Cars 59-39 (3rd place)
Tacoma vs Kamloops 50-47 (Championship Game)
Tournament Results:
Division 2
1. Tacoma Titans
2. Kamloops Bull-Dawgs
3. Victoria Chargers
4. Vancouver Cable Cars
5. Okanagan Thunder
6. Gold Rush
Division 1
1. Douglas College Royals
2. Douglas College Lions
League Awards:
Division 2
Most Improved – Jack Kosterman (Gold Rush)
True Sports Award – Amanda Yan (Cable Cars)
Rookie of the Year – Aidan Love (Victoria)
Division 1
Most Improved – Loren Pearson (Victoria)
True Sports Award – Alphonsus To (Cable Cars)
Best Teammate – Deion Green (Victoria)
All-Stars:
Division 2
Erik Vliegenthart (Kamloops)
Jack Kosterman (Gold Rush)
Alphonsus To (Cable Cars)
Matt Gee (Tacoma)
Shira Standfield (Victoria)
MVP - Deion Green
Division 1
Ross MacDonald (Royals)
Makiko Harada (Lions)
Deion Green (Royals)
Loren Pearson (Royals)
Matt Gee (Lions)
MVP - Jaimie Borisoff
OUR SINCERE THANK-YOU TO THE SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS:
COBS Bread Sunwood Square
Photos: Gerry Kripps
More photos from the event can be found at http://gerrykripps.smugmug.com/BC-CWBLFinals
