The Burnaby South Rebels earned their first entry into the B.C. AAA high school girls' basketball championship in almost 50 years.
The Rebel girls earned their seventh-ever berth at the show following a 6959 victory over provincial honourable mention Yale in a wild card matchup against the Fraser Valley school on Tuesday.
The last entry for a South girls' team was in 1964.
South jumped out to a 19-13 first-quarter lead and never trailed in the otherwise closely played showdown.
"The kids were really fired up. They knew it was their last chance," said South head coach Merv Magus.
Junior forward Desiree Lister led South scoring with 18 points, including eight in the opening quarter.
Senior Rebel post Manpreet Nijjar also had a strong game under the bucket, netting 17 points. Senior point guard Pavneet Brar added 14 points to the win.
The AAA girls' provincial tournament will be held at the Langley Events Centre from March 6 to 9.
STM TO AA'S
The St. Thomas More Knights made it to the B.C. AA girls' basketball championships for the first time in three seasons following a 65-51 win over Notre Dame last week.
Senior forward Kamila Wojciechowski led the way with 21 points, while Meghan Ho scored 18 for the Knights.
The win was slightly bittersweet after the STM boys were knocked out of their AA Mainland tournament by King George last week.
"Yeah, I was expecting (the boys), but when you have injuries like we've been struggling with all year, I'm happy the girls came through," said STM coach Joe Thierman.
The high school girls' provincials takes place in conjunction with the boys tournament at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops from March 6 through 9.
