Western News Staff
The Princess Margaret Mustangs junior boys basketball team won the Okanagan Valley championships for the first time since 1977. The Valley trophy has only been in the South Okanagan four times. The most recent was in 1990, which was won by John Olfert and the McNicoll Pogos.
The Mustangs faced the Oliver Hornets in the final for the South zone. With a minute remaining in the opening quarter, Oliver had a nine-point lead until Amit Grewal and Sanam Klar were able to tie things up going into the second quarter. Rebound specialists Kohl Linder, Brett Lavigne and Rylan Potter provided tough defence and rebounding that was just too much for the Hornets. The last quarter had Jas Sahota come back to form slicing through the Oliver defence to seal the victory.
The Mustangs reached the finals after they defeated a physical Kelowna team ranked No. 1 and Valleyview Secondary. In that game, Klar scored 18 points, while Grewal scored 16. Key shots by Klar and Grewal sent the game into overtime. With the game tied and one minute on the clock, Sahota calmly netted his first three-pointer to seal the win.
Valley MVP went to Klar and Grewal was named an all-star. The Mustangs will now go on to the provincial championships at Vancouver College March 8 to 10. The second place team from the Valley will be Valleyview Secondary, as Oliver forfeited the challenge game and gave up their spot to compete in provincials.