École Panorama Ridge Thunder top the Ladder in 2026 Goodwill Basketball Classic
The École Panorama Ridge Thunder are this year's champions in the Ladder division of the Surrey Firefighters' Senior Girls High School Basketball Classic. The senior girls defeated the Queen Elizabeth Royals in the final 61-45 to win the 2026 banner. (Photo by Surrey Firefighters)
The Grade 12 girls basketball team at École Panorama Ridge Secondary finally has their banner as the Thunder climbed to the top of the Ladder division in the Surrey Firefighters’ Senior Girls High School Basketball Classic.
In a hard-fought final, the Newton team held their own against the Queen Elizabeth Royals, winning the division with a final score of 61-45.
“Winning this banner for these kids – the smiles and the hugs and the cheers – it was really good to see the kids so excited,” said coach John Sowerby. “We went to the provincials when they were in Grade 8 and came third, and since then, they’ve wanted a banner so bad.”
The 24th annual dual tournament series splits Grade 12 girls teams into Ladder and Axe divisions, with the Holy Cross Crusaders ousting the Semiahmoo Thunderbirds in the Axe division.
For PR, Sowerby said the girls faced some tough competition throughout the series. While they started off with a good first round game against the École Earl Marriott Mariners, they went to battle with the Enver Creek Cougars, fending them off 63-57 in a close quarterfinal.
“Enver Creek is really good, we would get up 11 or 12 points but they would bring it back to seven, and later they brought it all the way down to one,” he said. “But then we went on a 10-point run to get it back to 11 – it was back and forth from there the entire second half.”
In the semifinals, the Thunder took on the Elgin Park Orcas, and despite a considerable lead to end the game 39-17, the first half told a different story.
“That game was a lot closer than the score indicated, we could not buy a hoop,” said Sowerby. “But in the second half, we put our press on and were able to get a couple turnovers and separate a little bit.”
Finally, the girls took on the Royals, and much like with Enver Creek, the Thunder came up against a back and forth that could’ve been anyone’s game. To add to the feverish competition, a number of unlucky fouls put even more pressure on Panorama Ridge to hold the lead.
“That was also close, a lot closer than it finished,” said Sowerby. “We have never fouled a three-point shooter and we did that three times against QE. Fortunately, the first two went zero for six, but when we fouled the third, she hit all three of her shots.
“That narrowed the gap but we just put the press back on and we were able to stretch the lead out.”
Ultimately, the team held on to win the final with a 16-point lead. Additionally, three key players received notable accolades: Misty Dejonwu was named Most Valuable Player, Gurleen Mann was named First Team All-Star and Imani Aujla was selected as Player of the Game for the final.
“Between these three, they are the core of the team and they were outstanding,” said Sowerby.
Congratulations, Panorama Ridge Thunder, on being this year’s Ladder Division champions!
