The Summerland Secondary School senior boys Rockets have qualified for the Okanagan Valley double A basketball championship.
The Rockets defeated George Elliot Secondary of Winfield 63-45 last Thursday in a home game.
Summerland jumped out to a 8-0 first quarter margin, never trailed in the game, and led by ten at the half.
Captain Abhi Lekhi scored a team-high 30 points and led the defensive press as well.
Co-captain Gurek Rathore netted two three-pointers in the first quarter to get the team going and Grade 11 forward Landon Brickenden scored 12 despite leaving the game in the second half with a cramp.
Brickenden also scored on a breakaway slam dunk in the third quarter.
“The team showed a lot of emotion, passion and composure in this game,” he said.
Coach Dave Stathers said, “the boys have really improved over the course of the season and I am glad to see a team stacked with seven Grade 12s moving on to the next step.”
The next step is the valley tournament to be held in Kamloops on the Feb. 26 to 28 weekend.
Other southern Okanagan teams advancing include Princess Margaret Secondary of Penticton and South Okanagan Secondary of Oliver.
The Rockets must place either first or second to advance to the provincial finals in Langley in March.