by Nicholas M. Pescod, BC Games News Service

It was Fraser Valley's defence that helped them earn a gold medal at the BC Summer Games girls basketball finals.

Fraser Valley (Zone 3) defeated Thompson-Okanagan (Zone 2) by a score of 37 to 27 at The VIU Gymnasium. The Thompson-Okanagan girls kept the score close for the half of the game, but Fraser Valley pulled away midway through the third quarter. 

Fraser Valley head coach Tim Smith said he was proud of his team's gold medal win. 

“The girls worked so hard and I am really proud of them,” Smith said.

Despite the 37-27 score, Thompson-Okanagan put forth a terrific effort throughout the entire game. At one point in the third quarter Thompson-Okanagan were down by five points. However, it was Fraser Valley's strong defence that proved to be the difference maker. 

“One the things that we really worked hard on was that pressure defence,” Smith said.

Heading into the game, Smith knew his team would need to play a strong defensive game against Thompson-Okanagan, who had plenty of opportunities throughout the course of Sunday's game.

“We played them before and it was 36 to 25,” Smith said. “I said 'our defence is what is going to win it for us and we are going to score more than 36 points.' So, we will take 37 points.” 

Fraser Valley's gold medal win was just one of their 50 gold medals that they collected as a division over the course of the BC Summer Games.

Vancouver-Squamish (Zone 5) took home the Bronze medal after they defeated Vancouver Island-Central Coast (Zone 6).

PHOTO CUTLINE 2: Fraser Valley (Zone 3) U14 girls basketball team receive their BC Summer Games gold medal on Sunday from Kelly Mann, President and CEO, BC Games Society. Fraser Valley defeated Thompson-Okanagan (Zone 2) 37-27 in a thrilling game.