St. Thomas More booked a ticket to the B.C. high school AA girls' basketball championships, avenging an earlier loss to Bodwell international school on route to a third-place finish.
The Knights, led by all-star junior point guard Zion Corrales-Nelson, earned the No. 3 Lower Mainland berth into the upcoming B.C.s following a 70-50 victory over Bodwell at the Crehan Cup AA high school girls' basketball championships at Windsor Secondary on Friday.
STM, still smarting from an earlier 58-56 loss on a last-second buzzer-beater to Bodwell, made no mistake this time, jumping out to an early 21-6 first-quarter lead.
"In the first game, we weren't as intense. This game we came out strong and wanted it really badly," said Corrales-Nelson, who led the early charge with nine first-quarter points.
Bodwell chipped away at the deficit in the second frame, outscoring the Knights 17-10 to pull within single digits at halftime.
But Corrales-Nelson was not done. The STM point guard took over the game in the third quarter, potting 15 of her game-high 25 points to swing the momentum back in STM's favour.
"The third quarter is the best quarter in basketball. We wanted to make sure we didn't back down," Corrales-Nelson added. "We really played as a team in that quarter, and it really showed."
In the fourth quarter, a long three-pointer by junior forward Nikko Sahagun put the Knights up by 20 points early in the final period. Sahagun then made a steal and Mainland all-star forward Leilani Carney for her ninth point of the game to all but seal the final outcome at 62-40.
Meghan Ho chipped in with 11 points and nine rebounds, while fellow senior Domunique Booker, who earned an honourable mention, also counted 11 points and seven boards.
On Thursday, STM won its consolation semifinal 69-36 over Britannia to advance to third-place game.
Carney led the way with 16 points, while Madie Bouvier added 14 points and eight rebounds. Corrales-Nelson also scored 14 points, while adding nine boards, seven assists and five steals.
With the win, STM earned a spot in the AA provincial championships to be held at the Langley Events Centre from March 5 to 8.
Seedings and first-round schedule are still to be decided.
