In the upcoming months before playoffs, there will be three more tournaments for the senior Rapids, such as Centennial’s Top Ten Tournament, the Len Cox Memorial Tournament in Penticton and the Tessa Tournament held at Holy Cross Secondary.
The girls’ basketball season commenced with the annual Victoria Christmas tournament, barely a week after the season officially started, and the Riverside girls left it all on the court. The effort displayed by both senior and junior divisions resulted in a 3rd (Sr.) and 5th place (Jr.) finish.
Coached by Mr. Paul Langford and Mr. Jeremy Neufeld, the senior girls’ basketball team spent 30 hours of the second weekend of December at Spectrum Community School in Victoria battling it out on the court. This year’s competition was composed of teams from the Lower Mainland,
Vancouver Island and several powerhouses from Alberta. The seniors concluded the tournament with three wins and a loss in overtime to the Brookswood Bobcats. The girls are currently ranked fourth in the province.
Meanwhile, the junior team took a loss and three wins to end up in 5th place. The girls worked hard but got complacent when playing Valley View Secondary, leading to a loss. “Our team particularly needs to work on having better starts to our games,” said coach Caitlin Langford. “We all loved watching the senior games though, and Carmen (Cariglino, grade 9) had a great tournament!”
The next tournaments that the seniors competed in were the Tsumura Basketball Invitational, held at the Langley Events Centre, as well as Riverside’s 14th year of hosting the Tournament For Emily. Started by Mr. Langford, the goal of the Emily tournament every year is to raise money for Children’s Hospital, to raise cancer awareness, to foster a culture of giving back among the players, and to remember Emily. The tournament was named after Emily Inglis, a community member who lost her battle with cancer before she had a chance to attend Riverside. Over the past 13 years, the school’s girls basketball program has raised $81,900 for Children’s Hospital.
“I think that we have a real good chance of making it to Provincials,” said senior team starter, Tessa Burton. The senior girls are currently ranked fourth in the province.
