The Churchill Bulldogs returned to the senior girls B.C. basketball championship for the first time in 50 years this week but were dealt a blow in the first game when starting guard Lex Leynes was sidelined with a knee injury.
The city championship MVP fell hard and twisted her left knee in an 80-56 loss to No. 3 Lord Tweedsmuir in the first round on March 2 at the Langley Events Centre.
Coach Jennifer Eng said teammates helped carry Leynes off the court. As of Friday afternoon, her knee was still too swollen for a diagnoses, said the coach.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big loss for us because we鈥檙e down a scorer,鈥� said. Eng 鈥淚n our style of play we like to substitute players every few minutes because we play a high-pace, high-tempo game because we鈥檙e small. Losing that player in our rotation added another five or six minutes for everyone else. We鈥檙e grinding it out every game.
鈥淪he wants to play so badly. That means everyone else on our team has to step up, which they did today,鈥� Eng said Friday after their first win at the 16-team B.C. championships.
The Bulldogs started their playoff run by defeating the AA Britannia Bruins in a thrilling final to win the 麻豆传媒映画public school championship in early February. They finished fourth at the AAA Lower Mainland tournament, which didn鈥檛 automatically qualify them for B.C.鈥檚 but didn鈥檛 announce the end of their season either. They could still advance with one more win.
In a wildcard, do-or-die game on Feb. 21, the Bulldogs defeated Heritage Woods 87-47 to earn a No. 14 seed at the B.C. championships.
The Dogs handled the pressure well. 听鈥淓veryone on our team stepped up,鈥� said Eng, adding she can tell how her team will handle an opponent in the first minutes of the first quarter.
鈥淥ur team has a domino effect 鈥� all play very well or we all play mediocre. We have to wait for the first four minutes and once we score our first layup in the game, that鈥檚 when I know we鈥檒l play well. It really just maters what happens on the court. All of our pregame is exactly the same, every game. We try to keep the same routine and keep it very light-hearted.鈥�
After the first-round loss to the No. 3 team, the Bulldogs lost to Handsworth on Thursday and followed that with a 67-47 win against the Kootenay鈥檚 Mount Baker this morning.
鈥淚 think we鈥檝e already over-achieved and just being here is really a bonus,鈥� said Eng.
Looking ahead to next year, Leynes will likely be back as a starter. The Grade 11 student was part of the core of a Bulldog team that will however see three key player graduate: Cecilia Bao, Tova Rae and Eloise Faehndrich.
Churchill plays No. 12 seed Gleneagle from Coquitlam at 1:15 p.m. Saturday, March 5 for 14th place. 听
The complete, updated AAA senior girls tournament draw is online .
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AA tournament
The Britannia Bruins play tonight for a shot at a ninth-place finish in the province.
Following a 76-62 loss in the first round to No. 7 Holy Cross from Burnaby, the No. 10 Bruins faced the second 麻豆传媒映画team in the tournament, Little Flower Academy on Thursday. Britannia won 70-62 and tonight play No. 11 Ballenas secondary for a chance to advance to the ninth-place game Saturday. Tip-off is 6:30 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre.听
Little Flower Academy defeated Northern B.C.'s Caledonia secondary 74-39 this morning and plays for 13th place Saturday. They face St. Michael's School at 11:30 a.m. March 5.听
The complete, updated AA senior girls tournament draw is online .
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