It's not often a tournament triumph is overshadowed by a regular season victory but it can definitely be the scenario if you happened to be part of the toughest senior girls basketball league in the province.
Such was the case for the Delta Pacers who got a taste of life on the easy side then proceeded to win their biggest game in two years.
After romping to a first place finish at the Delview Invitational in North Delta, the Pacers opened play in the new elite tier one Fraser Valley League with a dramatic 63-61 win over the defending provincial "AAA" champion WJ Mouat Hawks. Tessa Vincent's three-pointer at the buzzer forced overtime and provided momentum for the five-minute extra session.
The Pacers also received a big outing from senior standout Megan Trotman who poured in a game-high 23 points.
Although the Hawks are not the same team that prevailed last March at Capilano University, the Abbotsford school has a rivarly with Delta going back to Fraser Valley junior playoffs.
"We have quite a history with them and that really was a historical win," said Pacers head coach Kerrie Trotman who watched her team build up an early 21-7 lead only to squander it away. "It got ugly at times and the girls we're pretty beat up but they still found a way to dig deep and pull it out. It definitely will go down as one of our biggest wins."
The reward for the heroic effort was returning to their home floor 24 hours later and put a depleted line-up on the floor against the fourth ranked Brookswood Bobcats. The fast-running Langley school used its lethal full court pressure from nearly start to finish to cruise to 69-38 victory. The Pacers limped through the contest with Jeri Panesar and Megan Trotman sidelined with injuries but still battled right to the buzzer.
"It was encouraging to see them play really hard to the very end regardless what the score was," said Kerrie Trotman. "They basically knew what the outcome of the game would but but it tells you something about these girls."
There will be more huge challenges ahead with the Pacers being part of a 12team league that features seven of the top 15 "AAA" ranked schools in the province. They did at least get a taste of the other side by participating in what was basically a tier two tournament at Delview where they didn't even need to be firing on all cylinders to take top honours.
After two easy victories, Delta got off to a slow start in the championship game against Princess Margaret before relying on its high intensity defence to pull away in the second half.
Senior Hayley Flower-Ainge led the way in the scoring department throughout the tournament and was named to the all-star team, along with teammate Jesse Holowaty.
Coach Trotman also had praise for the continued strong play in the paint of senior Taylor Fox who has made significant progress since last season and has worked her way into the starting five, logging significant minutes.
The Pacers' schedule in the new year includes participating at the MEI Invitational where they have drawn sixth ranked South Kamloops in the opening round.
