The Delta Pacers senior girls basketball team is Sur-Del AAA League champions and two wins away from their first provincial berth in decades.
The Pacers entered the campaign back in November believing they were continuing on with their status as a tier two program — content with keeping their schedule within league play. That came after years of running into powerhouse teams in the ever-deep Fraser Valley zone.
However, BC high school girls basketball’s new landscape has changed their fortunes dramatically and for the foreseeable future too.
An added tier and a much smaller South Fraser Zone has shrunk the Pacers’ competitive pool down considerably with the majority of Surrey Secondary schools being the largest 4A tier size.
It turns out their league wasn’t tiered and featured all 3A size schools in Delta and Surrey.
The Pacers proceeded to go unbeaten in their division then upset provincial honourable mention Fraser Heights in last Thursday’s league playoff semi-finals at DSS. The No. 1 seed was secured the following night with a win over the Queen Elizabeth Royals.
They now head to the inaugural South Fraser Zone Championships, starting Tuesday at McMath Secondary in Steveston. They are seeded No. 2 in the eight-team single-knockout event and have a favourable opening round match-up with the No. 7 seed Richmond Colts.
A win should set-up a semi-final encounter on Wednesday night (7 p.m.) with the Steveston-London Sharks with a trip to the BC AAA Championships on the line.
The host Wildcats are ranked No. 4 in the province and are heavily favoured to win the zone tourney after capturing the Richmond title with a 103-51 win over the Sharks last week.
The Pacers wouldn’t see them until the title game with a provincial berth locked up. That’s how important winning their league tournament and earning the No. 2 seed was.
