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Rivalry renewed for Mustangs

The Princess Margaret Mustangs will face a familiar foe from two years ago in the Valleyview Vikes during the Mustang Mania tournament.
91714penticton0206-Maggiebball

The Princess Margaret Mustangs senior boys squad will be reviving a healthy rivalry that extends back a few years for some players during the Mustang Mania tournament at Princess Margaret Feb. 6-7.

The tournament will mark the first time the Mustangs see the Valleyview Vikes from Kamloops this year, currently ranked sixth in the AA division.

Colton Van Camp, guard and small forward for the Mustangs, is one of the seniors on the team who has a slight chip on his shoulder that goes back a couple years.

“We were pretty tight with them back in Grade 10 when we had kind of the same group of guys. They beat us in Valley semifinals so we couldn’t go to provincials,” Van Camp said. “It will be a nice little revenge game if we win that one.”

Fortunately there’s no bad blood and it’s a competitive rivalry more than anything.

“They’re a good team, they’re a classy team so I like playing them,” Van Camp said.

The Mustangs face Valleyview at 2:15 p.m. Friday in their first game of the tournament.

Mustang Mania isn’t a regular tournament draw, instead the games have been set up to get some fresh match-ups.

“We’re coming towards playoff time and some of the teams we’ve seen a lot. So we set it up so we could see teams that we haven’t seen much this year that make good, competitive match-ups,” said head coach Brian Hurst.

The Mustangs will also be playing Fulton from Vernon for only the second time this year as well as taking on the Pen High Lakers for the first time this season. The Mustangs are also tentatively planning to face off against the Lakers on Feb. 16 in a crosstown match up.

Hurst is hoping for some exciting games to kick start the team into playoff mode.

“We haven’t played in a while, we’ve had exams all this week, so it’s good to have this tournament because we have our playoffs start next week,” Hurst said. “Just looking to get back into the swing of things, hopefully battle hard and if we play well I think we got a chance to win.”

Heading into the latter half of his senior year, Van Camp is feeling the familiar senior blues, but is optimistic as the Mustangs head into the playoffs.

“For us Grade 12s it’s hard saying goodbye to basketball, but it’s good to end with a season like this,” Van Camp said.