G.W. Graham's Meaghan Bradshaw battles two Abbotsford Christian players for the ball in senior girls basketball action at GWG Tuesday.
Photograph by: Cornelia Naylor , TIMES
The G.W. Graham senior girls basketball team delivered a message to Fraser Valley rivals Abbotsford Christian Tuesday just in time for playoffs.
The Grizzlies handily dispatched the Knights 72-51 in Graham's second-to-last regular season game, and the timing couldn't have been better for coach Sarah Mouritzen.
"This was a big game for us going into Fraser Valleys," she said. "Abby Christian knocked us out in the Fraser Valley's last year in the game to qualify for B.C.s, so lots of pride was on the line."
Mouritzen's player of the game was Grizzlies point guard Aveen Rezends, who had her best game of the year and put up 17 points.
Jenika Bannerman led the Grizzlies attack, with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 steals while Kaitlyn McDonald notched 17 points.
Katie Sutherland and Kaela Pascoe lit it up on the defensive end and chipped in key baskets throughout the game, said Mouritzen.
Graham should clinch top spot in Fraser Valley East Thursday with a final game against Abbotsford Collegiate, a team they've handled easily during the regular season.
Fraser Valley regionals start next week, and the Grizzlies once again look on track to capture their first provincial berth.
Ranked ninth in the province, Graham looks more ready than ever to compete on the provincial stage.
Last weekend the Grizzlies took down two top-10 rivals (seventh-ranked Duchess Park and third-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas) at a Vancouver tournament before losing to eighth-ranked York House in the semifinal and to Southridge on a buzzer beater to end the tournament.
The Grizzlies' Kassia Bednarzcyk earned an honourable mention all-star while teammate Kaitlyn McDonald took home all-star honours.
