By Adam Donnelly

SKSS Titans celebrate back-to-back ‘AA’ Provincial Basketball Titles

Mar 4, 2019 | 3:50 PM

KAMLOOPS — Back at South Kamloops Secondary School Monday morning, the Titans Senior Girls Basketball team was sitting around the gym as they’d probably done countless times; but this Monday morning, there was some hardware hanging around each of their necks — Provincial Gold Medals, in fact — after the squad won their second consecutive BC ‘AA’ High School Basketball title on Saturday.

“It’s a good feeling going back-to-back,” Grade 12 forward Maddy Gobeil said. “It’s a big accomplishment and everyone is really excited and proud.”

“It’s crazy,” Grade 11 Guard Fiona Brisco said. “I don’t even — I’m still, like, it hasn’t sunk in yet.”

The Titans faced a familiar opponent in this year’s championship game. For the second year in a row, South Kam faced the GW Graham Grizzlies from Chilliwack in the final, and for the second year in a row the Titans came out on top winning 70-43 on Saturday, although they led by just two at halftime.

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“We tightened up a few of our rotations on defence,” Head Coach Del Komarniski told CFJC Today. “We said let’s keep being defensive and let’s have faith that the shots will start to fall and… that’s what happened.”

The Titans did a quick victory lap of the school Monday morning to celebrate with the rest of the student body. The team was led by their Grade 12’s — Maddy Gobeil, Olivia Morgan-Cherchas, and Anika Komarniski. Morgan-Cherchas was player of the game in the final, and Gobeil was named tournament MVP for the second year in a row. She finished the game with 29 points for the Titans and had to battle through adversity in the championship game.

“[Gobeil] was 1-of-15 in the first half, and she very easily could have had her head down and bemoaned the fact she wasn’t performing on the big stage,” Coach K said. “She kept hammering away and the second half opened up for her. She started hitting shots for us, and she was the difference maker.”

Gobeil was quick to credit her teammates for the work they did on D for turning the game around for the Titans in the second half.

“In the second half we really tightened up our defence and I think that mentally, everyone fully engaged,” Gobeil said.

For many of these athletes, many of whom reached their sporting pinnace for the second time in as many years, the memories of these championships will last a lifetime.

“All year, we’ve just been like a big family,” Brisco said. “It’s just amazing, winning it with people that are, like, special.”

“It’s such a great feeling,” Gobeil said. “We’ve worked so hard for it, all the hours in the gym. We’ve just spent to much time together. It’s great to finish it off with a win.”