It took a ‘hail Mary’ three-pointer to save overtime as the Pacific Christian School Pacers junior girls basketball team won its second straight Island championship by defeating the Claremont Spartans 47-42 at Belmont secondary on Feb. 16.
Check out this buzzer beater from @PCSTeams' Addy Tupas-Singh against @SD63Claremont Spartans in the Junior Girls Island Basketball Championship final. Tupas-Singh sinks the three-pointer to force OT followed by a PCS win (from Belmont on Feb. 16). pic.twitter.com/rwIdksF5xr
— travisApaterson (@TravisAPaterson) February 26, 2019
Down three points with seven seconds to go, Pacers point guard Addy Tupas-Singh (MVP of the 2017 Island championship) swished a running three-pointer over a Claremont defender to extend the championship final into overtime.
Pacer Ella Parker snagged a rebound and passed to Tupas-Singh who wove in and out as the time ticked down, launching the game-tying basket in the final seconds.
“She swished it,” said John Stewart, PCS athletic director.
Congrats to our Jr Girls BBall team - City Champs for 2019!@PCSVictoria @islandsports1 pic.twitter.com/iVIoXZL6Jr
— PCS Teams (@PCSTeams) February 8, 2019
READ MORE: PCS girls win first Island junior basketball title
Tupas-Singh was named to the tournament All-Star team and Pacers teammate Jenna de Greeff earned the MVP honours.
The Pacers and Spartans now advance to the junior girls provincials, Feb. 27 to March 2 at the Langley Event Centre.
PCS defeated faced the host Belmont Bulldogs in the semifinal though the latter had already secured a berth in the provincials by winning a previous qualifying tournament—with a buzzer-beater three-pointer over Pacific Christian, no less, said Stewart.
This time the Pacers won 60-47.
PCS and Claremont finished the first quarter tied 18-18. The Pacers flirted with a six-point lead in the third quarter. It was Claremont who took pulled ahead with a five-point lead and only a minute remaining in the fourth quarter.
PCS enters the 24-team provincials ranked fifth, Claremont ninth and Belmont 15th.