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Owls repeat at own tourney

Make it two in a row for the KSS Owls at the Interior Savings Western Canada Boys Basketball Tournament.

The Owls, ranked number one in the province, defeated number two Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs 84-71 before an overflow crowd at the KSS gymnasium.

After going 33 years between wins the Owls have now captured their own tournament twice in a row.

Parker Simson saved his best for the final, falling three assists short of a triple double. Simson finished the night with 18 point, 15 rebounds and seven assists.

Matt Lafontaine had 16 including a pair of crucial three-pointers down the stretch in the fourth quarter.

Grant Shephard added 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Harry Liu had a triple-triple in a losing cause. One of the top players in the province, Liu had 24 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

His teammate Karn Virk had 19 points and 10 boards.

The Owls trailed 22-21 after one quarter and, after giving up a free throw, went on a 7-0 run to forge ahead by six. They never trailed again.

It was those long runs that allowed the Owls to stay in front while, at the same time, holding the Bulldogs to shorter runs.

"That always is (key). And we were close to making those runs bigger which I think would have really polished them off but we were missing layups," said Owls coach Harry Parmar.

"I think our intensity would have picked up as well."

KSS led by nine at the break and, with the Bulldogs chipping into the lead, grade 12 guard Nav Sandhu made what may have been the game-saving play. Sandhu battled with two Bulldog players on the floor for a loose ball.

Sandhu won the battle, and threw the ball to a teammate while still on the floor. The play led to a bucket by Shephard which keyed another six point run to put KSS up by a dozen again.

Parmar said it's hard to compare the two wins, both he said are special.

"Last year was unexpected, this year's expectation was, oh they're going to win," said Parmar.

"I don't think we played our best tonight but we found a way to win. We're going to miss shots but if our defence is good, we'll always be fine."

Simson and Mason Bourcier were both named to the tournament first all-star team while Colin McGrath was named to the second team.

Shephard was named both top Owl and game MVP.

"I can't take all the credit," said Shephard of his MVP selection.

"It was a lot of my teammates helping me out. All the practice before this really paid off."

Bourcier, who won the championship for the first time as a grade 11 said it was an incredible experience.

"I've never really had such an atmosphere, especially for us," said Bourcier.

"The crowd was really unbelievable. For my first year it was tough to cope with but, it's a learning experience and a lot of fun."

He said it was probably the most fun he's ever had a a basketball tournament.

The Owls will now get ready for the valley championships at the end of the month and the provincial championships in Langley in early March.



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