They may not have been at their best, but the Walnut Grove Gators still managed a third-place finish at the provincial championships.
The Gators were competing at the Grade 8 boys basketball B.C. provincial invitational championships held in Pitt Meadows last week.
鈥淗onestly, I don鈥檛 think we played our best,鈥� admitted Walnut Grove鈥檚 George Kozlovic, who co-coaches the team with Terry Stead.
鈥淚 thought we played better at the Fraser Valleys.鈥�
At the Valleys, the Gators came second.
But they settled for third after going 3-1 at the provincials.
The team鈥檚 lone loss came in the semifinals, a 74-43 defeat at the hands of the eventual champion Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs finished the season undefeated.
鈥淲e are pretty happy with third,鈥� Kozlovic said.
鈥淥ther than the Churchill game, our defence was really, really good, especially in the third-place game.鈥�
He was referring to the Gators 46-32 win over South Okanagan.
In that game, Walnut Grove limited their opponent to a dozen points in the first half.
While they would have liked a better showing in their semifinal loss, that can be traced to an inability to score.
鈥淲e had lots of trouble scoring, Churchill shut us down,鈥� Kozlovic said.
鈥淲e just couldn鈥檛 put the ball in the hoop when we had the chances.鈥�
In the Gators other two games, they defeated Clarence Fulton 61-27 and then edged the St. George鈥檚 Saints 49-47 in the quarter-finals.
Wei Chung and Ethan Kano-McGregor both earned second-team all-star awards.
鈥淲ei has been by far our best player all year,鈥� Kozlovic said of his point guard.
鈥淗e is the most skilled and has played the most out of all our players.
鈥淗e had a very good tournament, especially against St. George鈥檚; he was huge (in that game).鈥�
Kano-McGregor, a small forward on the team is in his first year of basketball.
鈥淗e is a great athlete and is our hardest worker,鈥� Kozlovic said.
鈥淲e rely on him to usually guard the other team鈥檚 best player.鈥�
The coach also said Kano-McGregor was the Gators鈥� most consistent player over the tournament.
