LANGLEY — We’ve gone final here at the Langley Events Centre.
Great games were on display at all four tiers.
Thanks for your loyalty to Varsity Letters and your patience as we get stories and photos on line as quickly as possible.
A huge thanks to our writers tonight: Gary Ahuja, Dan Kinvig and Gary Kingston.
As well to LEC photographer Ryan Molag for committing his time to the first three 1A, 3A and 4A semifinals of the card.
Thanks as well to Dan Kinvig for pulling double-duty with camera at the 2A tier, to Vancouver Sports Pictures’ guru Paul Yates for taking the time to shoot images with no guarantee of their inclusion during to a number of uncertainties we faced, and to Caitlyn MacDonald, making her first trip to the provincial boys tournament and having her first photos ever published on out site.
Caitlyn worked the Spectrum-Mt. Boucherie game at 4A, and then the dramatic MEI vs. Wellington game at 3A.
And of course, thanks to you all for believing in a website from a guy who thinks this stuff is a World Series unto itself.
Good night and be with you Friday from Langley
Howard Tsumura
B.C. SENIOR BOYS 79TH B.C. CHAMPIONSHIPS
DOUBLE-A DAY 2
FINAL 8 ROUND
TOP HALF DRAW
No. 3 COLLINGWOOD 64 vs. No. 6 KING GEORGE 54
By DAN KINVIG (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY — In basketball as in life, a balanced diet is important.
Too much ice cream and too few veggies, as we know, isn’t fantastic for the physique.
The basketball equivalent? Falling in love with the three-pointer at the expense of those high-fibre shots at the rim.
The Collingwood Cavaliers, after binging on too much of the former in the early going of their 2A quarter-final clash with the King George Dragons, were able to settle into a balanced shot diet as the game wore on, pulling away for a 64-54 triumph to punch their Final Four ticket.
“We played King George 10 days ago (in the Sea-to-Sky zone final), and we hit 12 threes in the first half, and something like 17 threes for the game,” Cavaliers head coach Andy Wong related. “I know that they know we like to shoot the ball – it’s part of our identity, and it’s hard not to live and die by that.
“It’s a real chess match when we play against them, because they want to slow things down and we want to play fast. It’s just trying to find that compromise, and figure out what’s the best style of play.”
Collingwood, the No. 3 seed, led 12-11 after one quarter, with every single point coming from three-point range.
In the second quarter, all of their Cavaliers’ points came from inside the arc, either on two-point field goals or free throws, as the two Vancouver-based rivals headed to the locker rooms tied 25-25.
That investment in paint touches paid off in the second half, as Collingwood’s ability to collapse King George’s zone to generate open looks from three allowed them to settle into an offensive flow that yielded a double-digit lead.
Grade 11 guard Sam Li lit the fuse, draining a trio of triples to spark a 17-4 run bridging the third and fourth quarters.
“In the third quarter, when we started moving the ball more, it started creating a bit more of a tempo for us,” Li explained. “That’s our game. We had open threes, and we also had dish-offs where we could get the ball to the block for layups.
“Getting the ball to the nail (middle of the free throw line) was our main focus, and that opened up threes for us.
“It just felt fun playing out there. We were flowing.”
Li’s game-high 22 points included six three-pointers, Amir Mojarradi scored 10, and Finnegan Murphy’s nine points all came in the third quarter.
For the Dragons, Kio Nickel led the way with 15 points, Faisal Shawwa scored 11, and Charlie Comrie added 10.
The Cavaliers advance to face the winner of the Summerland-Notre Dame quarter-final in the semis on Friday (8:45 p.m.).
No. 2 SUMMERLAND 83 vs. No. 7 NOTRE DAME 77
BY DAN KINVIG (Special for Varsity Letters)
If the Summerland Rockets end up snipping mesh in the arena bowl on Saturday night, they’ll look back at Thursday’s quarter-final as a moment where they proved – to themselves and outside observers – that they have what it takes.
Tested to the max by a never-say-die Notre Dame Jugglers opponent, the Rockets hung on for an 83-77 victory.
On this night, the Jugglers were like a horror movie villain – every time the Rockets emptied a metaphorical shotgun into their chests or buried an axe in their spine, the Jugglers would pick themselves up and come back for more.
In the end, Summerland’s star senior guard Desmond Ducheck played the hero, draining eight consecutive free throws in the final minute to turn a late two-point deficit into a heart-pounding six-point win.
“The maturity of that kid and the love for the moment is unbelievable,” Rockets head coach Matthew Raimondo marveled afterward. “It’s fun to coach him.
“It was really nice to have a lot of Grade 12s to handle things down the stretch. There was a lot of adversity to deal with, and they handled it so well. Notre Dame played a hell of a game. They played so well, and they’re all Grade 11s. It’s really impressive.”
Off the opening tip, this game was not shaping up to be epic.
It was all Summerland early – the Rockets lived up to their name in transition, pushing the ball up the court at a breakneck pace and building a 16-2 lead.
The Jugglers, though, calmed things down and were able to slow Summerland’s transition game and get them to play more in the halfcourt. That yielded another 16-2 run, this one in Notre Dame’s favour, and the score was 18-18 at the first-quarter horn. Caleb Parrotta, the Jugglers’ 6’2” Grade 11 standout, hauled his team back into it, scoring 10 points in the frame.
Summerland took a slender 36-34 lead into halftime, then opened the third on a 14-4 surge with Desmond Ducheck leading the way.
Mateo Ducheck, Desmond’s younger brother, caught fire early in the fourth – he poured in 10 points in quick succession, highlighted by a pair of treys, as the Rockets appeared fully in control leading 73-60 with six minutes left in regulation.
The Jugglers responded with back-to-back treys from Saajan Deo and Connor Mabel, though, and continued to chip away at the deficit.
In the dying minutes, Notre Dame’s press put on an absolute clinic, forcing three consecutive turnovers as Summerland couldn’t manage to get the ball past halfcourt. That fueled an 8-0 run, capped by Parrotta’s stepback three-pointer with one minute left, and the Jugglers were suddenly up 77-75.
Desmond Ducheck, though, drew a foul on the ensuing possession and made both free throws to knot the score.
Parrotta came down the other way and bulled his way into the paint, where he was called for a charge. It was his fifth and disqualifying foul, closing the curtain on an incredible 34-point performance.
The elder Ducheck drew a foul as he wove his way through the Notre Dame press, hitting both free throws to restore his team’s lead, and four more after that to ice the game.
Desmond Ducheck tied Parrotta for game-high scoring honours with 34 points, and his younger brother notched 20. Jack Campbell added 10 points for Summerland before fouling out late in the third quarter, as the Rockets preserved their flawless record which now sits at 31-0 on the season.
Mabel added 20 points for the Jugglers.
“I’m really proud of how the guys competed,” Notre Dame head coach Cam Wright said afterward. “We got down early, but we never gave up, never quit. It was a hell of a game because of it.”
“We took an early timeout there – our shot just wasn’t dropping at the start. I said to my guys, ‘Hey, it’s not falling, we’ve just got to take some pride in defence and then it’ll get going.’ All credit to them – they took it as a challenge to sit down and guard defensively, and we were able to get going offensively.
“Summerland has some great players, really well-coached. We were just trying to limit how many points they could score. At the end of the day, I’m just proud of how my boys competed.”
BOTTOM HALF DRAW
No. 1 PACIFIC ACADEMY 81 vs. No. 8 ABBOTSFORD CHRISTIAN 66
DAN KINVIG (Special for Varsity Letters)
The thing about the Pacific Academy Breakers is, they tend to live up to their name.
Given enough time, the No. 1 seed in the 2A draw will, more often than not, break you.
All it takes is a short stretch where you’re not at your best, and you’ll look up at the scoreboard to find the Surrey squad suddenly up by double digits.
For the Abbotsford Christian Knights on Thursday evening, that fateful juncture occurred in the second quarter.
In a highly entertaining, hotly contested opening frame, the Knights showed that many of the same adjectives that one could rightly use to describe the Breakers – tall, deep, talented – also apply to them.
Second-quarter foul trouble for Abby Christian, though, combined with Pacific Academy getting its transition game on track, saw the favourites’ lead explode to 20 points in the blink of an eye.
And while the Knights never went away, they never truly threatened again. The Breakers kept them at arm’s length the rest of the way en route to an 81-66 triumph.
“Their kids are so physically tough,” Abby Christian coach Keith Stewart analyzed. “You bump No. 6 (Earl Akene) or No. 7 (Adriel Bouguep), and they don’t even notice it. They’re just going to the hoop. Their physicality really separates them.”
The Knights opened the game with a sensational sequence – Nii-Adjetey Osekre soared well above the rim to hammer a Breakers’ layup attempt off the glass, and in transition the other way, Colton Redekop spotted up and swished the three-pointer.
Akene, Pacific Academy’s 6’4” senior forward, was outstanding early, racking up 14 first-quarter points.
In the second, Abby Christian forwards Osekre and Micah Sikma each picked up their fourth fouls and headed to the bench, and Akene and point guard Judah Ashbee (eight points in the second quarter) took advantage of their absence, pushing the ball in transition to ignite a 24-6 surge.
The Breakers took a 51-33 lead into halftime, and while the Knights mounted some mini-runs after the break, Pacific Academy maintained a double-digit edge the rest of the way.
“What makes us different than most 2A teams is, we have both size and speed,” Breakers coach Joel Ashbee said. “If we can play in transition, I think that plays to our strength. If we play a halfcourt game, it’s a roll of the dice. We were able to put our press on, and that allowed us to push the ball.”
“They (the Knights) have such great shooting and length – holy crow, they’re a tough team. But we’ve got some really good Grade 12 veterans that know what to do. We have that mental stability, yet at the same time, we have that passion. Sometimes you get a little too passionate and you lose that emotional stability, but I think we’re harnessing it really well right now.”
Akene racked up 28 points on his way to player of the game honours, Ashbee finished with 24, and Joel Aikoriogie scored 14.
The Knights had 11 players hit the scoresheet, led by Colton Redekop (19 points), Sikman (nine) and Brayden Redekop (eight).
No. 4 WESTSYDE 73 vs. No. 5 ST. MICHAELS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL 63
DAN KINVIG (Special for Varsity Letters)
The Westsyde Whundas are certainly the most imposing team in the 2A draw, both in terms of their raw stature and the bone-rattling physicality with which they approach the game.
It takes a ton of heart to go toe-to-toe with them… but the St. Michaels University School Blue Jags have that in spades.
In a 40-minute war on the floor, the No. 5 Blue Jags of Victoria pushed the No. 4 Whundas of Kamloops to the limit, only to fall by a 73-63 count in a provincial quarter-final game that was up for grabs in the final two minutes.
“That was a survive-and-advance type of game,” Westsyde head coach Ryan Porter said, breathing a sigh of relief postgame. “That was a gritty win – we could have easily lost that. SMUS had a wicked game plan against us, and they’re well-coached. We had to find a way.
“I think we just wore them down. They had to give everything they had to stay with us, and they almost had us. If a couple more of their threes drop, that’s a different game. They’re a very good team.”
Watching the Whundas is a unique experience, to say nothing of what it must be like to play them.
They bring a football-type mentality to the hardwood, and it’s no shocker to learn that three of their players – tight end Logan Rubel, quarterback Liam Connolly, and wideout Kooper Groeneveld – also suit up for the football squad.
Westsyde has seven players who stand at least 6’3”, and in terms of their build, most of them are more Karl Malone than Kevin Durant. Which is to say, these dudes have spent some time in the weight room. They put multiple plates on the bench press bar. It’s wintertime, but they’re ready for beach season. Their muscles have muscles.
Against the Whundas, what you may think is a 50-50 ball is, in fact, more like a 75-25.
The Blue Jags, meanwhile, have some tall gentlemen in their own right, but much of their offensive success is driven by diminutive backcourt standouts like Dani Pelyhe (5’9”) and Zaki Pelyhe (5’8”). It was a study in contrasts, to say the least.
In the early going on Thursday, it looked like Westsyde’s length and brawn might simply overwhelm SMUS. A 9-0 run bridging the first and second quarters put the Whundas up 21-10, and the Blue Jags were really labouring to score.
Dani Pelyhe managed to find some crevices in the Whundas’ defence, though, and his free throws at the halftime buzzer helped his squad rally for a 24-23 lead at the break.
Westsyde, though, opened the third quarter on a 13-3 run led by 6’7” guard Cason Scott, who racked up nine points in the frame. Dani Pelyhe continued to have the hot hand for the Blue Jags, and his 11 third-quarter points helped his squad keep pace, cutting the deficit to 53-49 heading to the fourth.
A pair of super-clutch triples from Zaki Pelyhe saw SMUS draw to within a single point (61-60) with four minutes left, but the war of attrition favoured Westsyde as three Blue Jags (Jaiden Daniels, Elliot Mairet and, most crucially, Dani Pelyhe with just over three minutes left in regulation) fouled out of the contest.
SMUS had their shots to tie or go ahead in the dying minutes, but with each trey that rattled out, the Whundas would take the ball back down to the other end and pound it into the paint. More often than not, it was Kiyo Brown on the receiving end of those passes, and his seven fourth-quarter points were immense.
Jayden Broadfoot iced the game for Westsyde, going 6-for-6 from the foul line.
“I’ve had all kinds of different teams over the years, and you kind of have to work with what you have,” Porter noted. “Because we are so big and strong, we have to impose that strength and physicality on other teams, right?
“That was the difference tonight. We couldn’t hit shots, but we controlled the rebounds and got extra chances because of the big boys.”
Brown paced the Whundas with 21 points, Scott scored 18, and Broadfoot finished with 15 points.
Dani Pelyhe’s 25 points were a game-high, and Davis Hardy, with 16 points including a trio of three-pointers, joined him in double figures.
“SMUS had a very good defensive game plan, they basically packed in the paint and made it hard for our big guys to score,” Porter noted. “They basically said we were going to have to hit threes tonight to beat them, and early on, I think we were 1-of-12 from three, so their plan was working really well. It was working for a long time.
“We were probably the better team going into the game, but that didn’t stop them from coming out swinging. What I’m proudest of for my team is, they didn’t drop their head, they didn’t give up. We just grinded one out.”
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