Royals Move On
The Douglas Royals win their semifinal on Friday night
Douglas Royals 70
Capilano Blues 59
The Royals exploded in the second quarter outscoring the Blues 22-11 en route to their semifinal victory on Friday to punch their ticket to the Conference gold medal game and a berth in the national championship tournament.
Lauren Clements caught fire early on and collected 20 points in the first half to pace her club. She finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds and was named the Player of the Game. The Royals also played tough defence and didn’t allow the Blues many second chance opportunities thanks to the play under the hoop by Mackenzie Dalphond and Laini Glover. Dalphond finished with an eye-popping 22 rebounds and Glover added seven. They held the Blues to 28% shooting and created 17 turnovers.
On the offensive side Clements was the main piece of the puzzle, but she had plenty of help. Dalphond finished with 13 points and Elena Skalik had 10 including two massive three-point shots in the second half to hold the Blues comeback at bay. As a team they shot 35% and connected on 80% of their free throws.
The Blues struggled to knockdown their shots, particularly from the three-point line finishing 7-34 for 20%. Maddy Coffin did lead her team with 20 points, Barcha Hnizdilova added 14 and Mia Parkin had a double double of 10 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
Saturday night the Royals will play for PACWEST gold knowing they have already clinched a berth in the national championship hosted in Quebec. They will meet the VIU Mariners at 5:30pm for Conference bragging rights. It will be a quick turnaround for the Blues as they prepare for the bronze medal game where they will meet the CBC Bearcats at 12:30pm.