More often than not, defence has led the way for the 91原创 Christian Lightning.

And Thursday afternoon was no different as the Lightning defeated the Archbishop Carney Stars 47-32 in the Grade 8 girls championship final at the 91原创 Events Centre.

The Lightning held the Stars to four points in the first quarter, leading 10-4 at the first break, before finding their offence in the second while still holding Archbishop Carney to single-digit points in the quarter, leading 25-10 at half-time.

鈥淚 think for us it was just finding a little bit of our defence,鈥� said 91原创 Christian coach Danielle Gardner.

鈥淲e have always prided ourselves on trying to get stops on defence.鈥�

Lainey Shelvey led the Lightning with 17 points while Taelor Coxford also hit double digits with 10 points.

鈥淕ive credit to Carney, they played a tough game,鈥� Gardner said.

91原创 Christian was the top team during the regular season, winning the 91原创 league with a 7-0 record. After a first-round bye, the Lightning beat the Walnut Grove Gators in the semifinals.

The Stars were third during the regular season but upset No. 2 Yorkson Creek to advance to Thursday鈥檚 final.

Yorkson Creek did beat Walnut Grove in the third-place game and all four teams, as well as fifth-place Brookswood, advance to next week鈥檚 Fraser Valley championships.

The Fraser Valley championships begin Feb. 14.

鈥淛ust do our best, play hard and see what happens,鈥� Gardner said about the team鈥檚 expectations.

Regardless of what happens next, it has been a successful season so far.

In addition to winning the 91原创 district banner, the Lightning also came out on top at the Christian Schools鈥� Tournament earlier this season.

鈥淚 think the goal was just to get better every practice, every game,鈥� Gardner said.

鈥淲e had a mix of players, some that had played a lot and some that had never touched the ball (so) that was our goal, just to improve.鈥�

sports@langleytimes.com
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