In their 2A Provincial quarterfinal matchup, the Fernie Falcons took on the Langley Christian Lightning after an overtime win against A.R. MacNeill. If the previous night’s game took a toll on them, the Falcons did not show it at the start of the first quarter. While Langley Christian broke the ice and was first to be on the scoreboard, Fernie led the game early in the first quarter, 16-7. After the hot start, Langley Christian was able to react and decrease the lead in less than a minute, leaving them only behind by 2.
Taking advantage of some Fernie turnovers, the Lightning tied the game 18-18, forcing Fernie to take a timeout. The break did no good for Fernie, with the Lighting taking advantage of Fernie’s mistakes and took over the game by the end of the first quarter 23-20.
Langley Christian’s, Colette Van der Hoven (#9, Grade 11) took things to another level, collecting rebounds and points, stretching the LCS lead by 10 at the 6 minute mark. Another Lightning, Grace Bradshaw (#5, Grade 11), hooking up points left, right and center; LCS easily increased their lead throughout the quarter by nearly 20 points half way through the second.
The Falcons struggled to keep the gap from growing to no avail. They could not get off their dry spell of shooting. The Lightning were having their moment, scoring point after point, quickly breaking down Fernie’s spirit and holding their lead going into halftime, 55-22.
Starting in the second half of the game, LCS took matters into their own hands and continued to blow Fernie away increasing their lead to 40 points at the 5-minute mark in the third quarter. Fernie, to their credit, did not look defeated and continued to try and put a strong front, while trying to break through LCS’s defenses. Nonetheless, Fernie was not prepared for the blow LCS had initiated. Bradshaw’s show of strength in that third quarter was all the proof that she deserved the recognition of Player of the Game.
Langley Christian took the win with a final score of 87-59 over the Fernie Falcons. Colette Van der Hoven and Grace Bradshaw showed with a combined 55 points. Definitely two girls to keep an eye on in the upcoming Semi-Final game, Friday night.
Of course the LCS girls cannot do it all without the support of their coaching staff. Coach Gardner was super enthusiastic about what was coming up for the girls and proud to have such a well put together group. “You try to get the best out of the kids when you can. You make a good working environment, and you make them work hard, you try to make it a great high school experience,” said Gardner when asked about her team. For Coach Gardner, all that matters is that girls have fun and enjoy the time they have together, building them into young women and empowering them to be great. And great things come to a team who values their hard work to get to where they are.