The two Surrey schools at the B.C. Senior AA Girls High School Basketball Tournament have been knocked out of championship contention in the first round.
The Holy Cross Crusaders, seeded fourth for the 16-team tournament and coming off a Fraser Valley championship, were upset 67-63 by the St. Thomas Aquinas Fighting Saints of North Vancouver.
The Southridge Storm, the tournament's 11th-seed, lost 75-60 to the Seycove Seyhawks of North Vancouver.
Both games were played Wednesday at the Langley Events Centre.
The Crusaders were not overconfident heading into the tournament, as head coach Steve Beauchamp noted "from third through 14th, there is a lot of parity" among the teams.
Holy Cross enjoyed a 21-16 lead after the first quarter, but St. Thomas Aquinas dominated the next two periods and led 37-29 at the half and 51-35 after three quarters.
Held to just 14 points after the first quarter, the Crusaders rallied with 28 fourth-quarter points, but fell four shy of a victory.
Nicole Vander Helm led the Crusaders with 26 points and 10 rebounds, with Clarissa Madaisky adding 10 points and 16 rebounds.
Grace Sloan contributed 10 points, with Georgia Walley netting eight points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
The Storm fell behind early against the Seyhawks and never recovered. They trailed 21-15 after 10 minutes and 42-34 at the half. Seycove pulled away in the third period by outscoring Southridge 19-8.
The Storm, with just one Grade 12 player in their lineup, were led by Grade 11s Megan Galbraith with 16 points and Emily Schenk with 11. Grade 10 players Hannah Morrison and Stephanie Pak each tallied 10 points.
Holy Cross will play the 12th-seed Vernon Panthers this morning (Thursday) at 10:15 a.m. while Southridge will play at noon against the 14th-seed Lambrick Park Lions of Victoria.