Vancouver, B.C. - In the 2019 4A BC Provincial Championship, the #7 Kelowna Owls would take on the #9 Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers in front of a packed house at the Langley Event Centre. After three exciting Provincial Finals, the 4A finale would be the official end to the British Columbia Basketball Season. It would be the Owls who would strike first from a Hunter Simson three. From there, the game would take off with a frantic pace as both teams were eager to push the ball in transition and get early shots. Not afraid to shoot the ball, the Kelowna Owls would knock down a number of triples on their way to a 27-24 lead after the first. The Panthers would suffer a scare as Arjun Samra went down with a small injury after his hot start - luckily he would return to start the second quarter.
In the second quarter, it was Malcolm Greggor who caught fire hitting a pull-up jumper followed by a corner three, both of which touched nothing but net. As the end-to-end action continued, it was Kelowna who had opened up the first sizeable lead at 44-36 with 2:37 left to play in the first half. Arjun Samra would hit a tough floater and Phillip Nguyen would erase a Kelowna shot to keep Lord Tweedsmuir close, but five consecutive points by Hunter Simson would give the Owls a 53-38 lead after 20 minutes.
Things would slow down, barely, to start the third quarter. Kelowna's man press would force the issue and their lack of doubt when shooting kept the pressure on. Josh Hamulas would knock down a pair of triples and Arjun Samra would knock down a three and a couple leak outs. Kelowna's Parker Johnston caught fire to extend ta Kelowna lead to 19 points, but Alex Le had the answer for the Panthers knocking down three threes of his own. After three quarters Kelowna held a 76-67 lead with 10:00 to play.
Battling foul trouble all game long, Jackson Corneill of Lord Tweedsmuir would enter the fourth quarter with four fouls but scored the first five points of the quarter for the Panthers, to cut the lead to just four points with 8 minutes to play. Arjun Samra would sieze the moment on the next play rocking his defender to sleep before knocking in a deep three-pointer from straight away to cut the lead to just one. Time-out Kelowna. Out of the timeout Josh Hamulas would get a steal and get a go-ahead lay-up for the 77-76 lead. The Lord Tweedsmuir fans were fully behind their team and the energy in the gym was electric as we entered the final stretch. The Panthers would keep pressing and a smooth eurostep finish from Jackson Corneill followed by a Arjun Samra floater would extend the Panther lead to 83-76 with 5:36 to play. Malcolm Greggor would stop the bleeding as he knocked down a deep triple for Kelowna out of another timeout. Lord Tweedsmuir wasn't fazed and would close the game out at the freethrow line. Outscoring the Owls 24-10 in the fourth quarter, the Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers would win the 4A British Columbia Provincial Championship by a score of 91-86.
Lord Tweedsmuir Top Performers
#12 Jackson Corneill - 23 Points | 15 Rebounds | 3 Assists | 1 Steal
#14 Arjun Samra - 22 Points | 7 Rebounds | 4 Assists | 1 Steal
#2 Alex Le - 17 Points | 4 Rebounds | 2 Assists
Kelowna Owls Top Performers
#7 Parker Johnston - 28 Points | 10 Rebounds | 3 Assists | 3 Steals
#6 Hunter Simson - 25 Points | 6 Rebounds | 5 Steals | 4 Assists
#4 Malcolm Greggor - 21 Points | 4 Rebounds | 1 Steals
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