The Burnaby South Rebels earned their first entry into the B.C. AAA high school girls' basketball championship in almost 50 years.
The Rebel girls earned their seventh-ever berth to the show following a 6959 victory over provincial honourable mention Yale in a wild card matchup against the Fraser Valley school on Tuesday.
"It was amazing, . it was our goal from the beginning," said senior point guard Pavneet Brar, who has played on the varsity since Grade 8. "It's a privilege to go the tournament for the first time."
The last entry for a South girls' team was back in 1964.
The Rebels won their one-and-only provincial title in 1952. They also placed third in 1955.
South jumped out to a 19-13 first-quarter lead and never trailed in the otherwise closely played showdown.
"The kids were really fired up. They knew it was their last chance," said South head coach Merv Magus.
Junior forward Desiree Lister led South scoring with 18 points, including eight in the opening quarter.
Senior Rebel post Manpreet Nijjar also had a strong game under the bucket, netting 17 points. Brar added 14 points to the win.
South led Yale by as many as 17 points in the final quarter.
For the past four league seasons South had played second fiddle to the New Westminster Hyacks, when it came to qualifying through the Lower Mainlands.
South won the district regular season, but faltered a bit under the pressure of living up to a top10 ranking.
South was forced into the do-or-die wild-card matchup after a less-than stellar effort against Richmond No. 1 Steveston-London in the consolation final at the Crehan Cup last weekend.
"Definitely we've been through it all," added Brar. "But this is like the topping to our season. We couldn't have asked for a better finish. . We knew we had to fight to the very end."
The AAA girls' provincial tournament will be held at the Langley Events Centre from March 6 to 9.
STM to AA's
The St. Thomas More Knights made it to the B.C. AA girls' basketball championships for the first time in three seasons following a 65-51 win over Notre Dame last week.
Senior forward Kamila Wojciechowski led the way with 21 points, while Meghan Ho scored 18 for the Knights.
The Knights ended York House's dominance in the Vancouver independent league with a first-ever title this season.
The win was slightly bittersweet after the STM boys' were knocked out of their AA Mainland tournament by King George last week.
"Yeah, I was expecting (the boys), but when you have injuries, like we've been struggling with all year, I'm happy the girls came through."
The high school girls' provincials takes place in conjunction with the boys tournament at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops from March 6 through 9.
