The South Kamloops Titans are headed to the provincial senior AAA boys basketball championship.
The Titans won the Okanagan championship for the first time since 2009, beating the NorKam Saints 77-53 in Saturday’s final. South Kam will be in Langley for provincials from March 13-16.
According to a draw sent out Sunday, the Titans will open March 13 against the winner of a game between two Victoria teams — the Belmont Bulldogs and Oak Bay Breakers. The Breakers are ranked No. 9 in B.C.
The host Kelowna Owls, an honourable mention in the provincial rankings, were the favourites at Okanagans, but South Kam knocked them off 98-85 in overtime on Friday. Jacob Adams hit five three-pointers in a 30-point effort, and Elijah Hillis-Gold scored 23 points, including 10 in overtime.
Tye Desrosiers had 18 points and 24 rebounds for South Kam, which trailed by 20 early, and Cooper Butchard helped out with 14 points.
Against NorKam, tournament all-star Adams had 21 more points, while Hillis-Gold, who was named championship MVP, scored 18. Reid Sellars added 13 points, while Drew Eliason and Desrosiers each scored 11.
Austin LaBonte had 15 points for NorKam, while Evan Cave added 10 points and Evan Helgason added nine. Helgason also was named to the tournament all-star team.
NorKam had beaten the Penticton Lakers 56-40 to advance to the gold-medal game. Helgason scored 20 points, with Cave and LaBonte each scoring nine.
