The New Westminster Hyacks pulled off a pair of upsets at the Top 10 shootout girls' basketball tournament in Coquitlam.
The No. 10-ranked Hyacks defeated No. 6 Handsworth 67-62 to finish in eighth place in the 16team tournament, avenging one of only five losses to top-flight teams this season.
Second team all-star guard Ariana Sider led the Hyacks with 25 points, while Meriam Ali chipped in with 16 points for New West. Manisha Kandola, with eight points, was the Hyacks' player of the game.
The Hyacks opened the tournament with a 5854 win over No. 7 South Kamloops. Sider again had 25 points to lead the team. Sharmaine Haley, with nine points, earned player of the game for New West.
On Friday, New West lost 57-45 to No. 2-ranked Oak Bay. Later in the day, the Hyacks lost 60-51 to No. 5 Maple Ridge in the shootout at Centennial.
Sider scored 19 points and Jetti McLaughlin added 10 in the loss to Oak Bay.
Sider and Ali netted 25 and 21 respectively against Maple Ridge.
"We can play with anybody, but we can't play 40 minutes. We could have won that one," said Hyacks head coach Doug Woodward about the loss to Oak Bay.
Rebounding appears to be the Achilles heel of the Hyacks, but switching to a man-to-man defence against Handsworth had a positive outcome, added Woodward.
"We were fine," he said. "We're just not working hard enough in practice. This year, no one is pushing anyone. These kids aren't used to playing competitive basketball at a high level."
No. 4 Brookswood upset the top-ranked Riverside Rapids 68-64 in the championship final of the Top 10 shootout, ending the Port Coquitlam school's 25game winning streak.
Vancouver independent York House, ranked third in the province, finished in third place following a 62-54 upset victory over Oak Bay. Burnaby's Alisha Roberts scored a game-high 21 points for York House.
Roberts also led all scorers with 25 points in a 71-55 semifinal loss to Riverside.
