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
TRIPLE-A
FINAL 8 ROUND
TOP HALF DRAW
NO. 11 MARK R. ISFELD 90 NO. 3 St. PATRICK 79
By GARY KINGSTON (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY – The Mark R. Isfeld Ice scored just two points in the first five-and-a-half minutes and looked in the first half like they might get run out of Centre Court by the Roadrunner-paced St. Patrick Celtics.
Oh, and they get about as much respect as legendary comic Rodney Dangerfield, which explains, says Grade 12 forward Parker Guile, the “chip on our shoulder.” A chip? More like a boulder.
“We’re a slept-on team,” says Guile.
In that case, the remaining teams in the 3A senior boys basketball championships better wake up quick.
The lightly regarded team from Courtenay has a collective motor that just won’t quit and a fervent belief in their ability to overcome anything an opponent can throw at them.
So the 90-79 win by the No. 11 seed in a quarterfinal Thursday on Centre Court at the Langley Events Centre – the second win in two days over a higher seed – wasn’t really an upset was it?
The Ice have clearly got ice in their veins and a firm eye on Saturday’s championship final.
“We just fight,” said 6-foot-7 Grade 12 forward Owen Stewart, who was a ferocious battler on the boards all game. “We never give up. We play all 40 minutes as hard as we can. Full court pressure. And we always believe in ourselves. There’s nothing we can’t do.”
Well, they couldn’t hit a shot early on Thursday. Nerves, perhaps, they said. And gave up fastbreak layup after fastbreak layup as the Celtics took a quick 15-4 lead and a 45-37 advantage into halftime.
But the Ice made some adjustments in their full-court pressure to take away the long breakaway pass that St. Patrick executed so well in the first 20 minutes.
And then Daxin Moldenhauer (27 points) and Guile (21 of his 23 points in the second half) began going even more forcefully to the basket, taking full advantage of their size advantage over the Celtics. Rebound stats weren’t available, but Stewart and the 6-foot-4 Moldenhauer clearly dominated off the glass at both ends of the floor.
“St. Pats isn’t the biggest team, so it was good to get to the rim and really take it to them,” said Guile
Isfeld finally took its first lead, 51-50 midway through the third quarter on a pair of free throws by Torr Robertson then stretched it to seven points when Moldenhauer and Nate Boan, who had 19 points, hit back-to-back three pointers. The lead fluctuated between three and five points the rest of the game until the final minute when Guile, Moldenhauer and Stewart combined to make eight of 10 free throws to secure the victory.
“I was so proud of myself for really clutching the game up at the end there,” said Guile.
Ice head coach Blake Tobacca acknowledged his team was “a little frazzled and rattled” in the first quarter.
“But we kept with our plan. We made the adjustment in getting back on (defence) . . . and it worked. It was a fantastic turnaround for us.”
Tobacco said he knew his team could take advantage of the size difference. St. Patrick had only one starter over six feet – Jakobi Matalbos at 6-foot-4.
“Rebounding, Owen, man, Parker Guile, they were all over the floor. Our small guards as well. Super proud of our team, so happy. This is my last year coaching them. We’ve wanted to play St. Pats for years and we got them. And we beat them.”
Tobacco also talked about how his team wasn’t highly regarded coming off the Island and seeded just 11th at provincials.
“We don’t get a lot of respect sometimes. I tell the boys that, but they play hard for four quarters and don’t give up. You never know what can happen.”
The Ice have never won a provincial championship with a best finish of seventh in 2A.
“We’re going to win it all,” proclaimed a confident Guile.
NO. 2 WINDSOR 62 NO. 7 RICHMOND 53
By Gary Kingston (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY – Windsor Secondary in North Vancouver may have to expand its trophy case.
After winning B.C. senior boys titles in Double A football and soccer in the fall, the Dukes senior boys basketball team has advanced to the semifinals of the provincial 3A tournament at the Langley Events Centre.
“If we can win basketball for the big trifecta, we’re going to be very happy,” said Grade 11 forward Oscar Rouilliard after a standout 23-point performance in a quarterfinal win on Thursday on Centre Court.
Windsor, seeded No. 2, needed every bit of its poise and defensive chops to win a second consecutive close game, this time 62-53 over a pesky group of Richmond Colts. A day earlier, the Dukes struggled to put away No. 15 Caledonia before pulling out a 57-51 victory.
“This season, we’ve really taken pride in our defence,” said Grade 12 forward Emmet Ward, who quarterbacked the gridiron Dukes to their title. “Coming up against tougher teams, we’ve really prioritized our defence. Games are won on the defensive end.
“We’ve got the offence. We’ve got guys who can go for 20- or 30-plus, but it’s the defence that’s going to win games.”
Holding the speedy Colts to 53 points certainly demonstrated that the Dukes were on their defensive game, although Richmond hurt itself in the third quarter, going just 3-of-12 from the free throw line at one stretch.
Rouillard, a wide-receiver on the football team, hit a couple of clutch jumpers late in the third quarter to push the lead to 11 and give the Dukes a cushion as the Colts pushed back and got the lead down to three a couple of times late in the fourth. Rouillard finished with a game high 23 points.
Six-foot-six Grade 12 forward Perrin Taylor, who sat most of the third quarter because of foul trouble had 20 points, including three key baskets in the fourth.
Clement Lai and Kristian Popadich each had 11 to lead the Colts.
“We knew Richmond would be scrappy, make every offensive possession count,” said Windsor head coach Marco Fong. “We knew this game would be back and forth, tight and come down to who makes the big shots. We figured it would be low-scoring and that our defence had to make a difference.”
The Dukes will play the upset-minded and No. 11 seed Mart. R. Isfeld Ice from Courtenay in a Friday semifinal. The two met early in the season in the Tsumura Invitational at the Langley Events, with Windsor winning that one by 20.
“They’re a good team,” Rouillard said of the Ice. “And every team has gotten better. Good for them, coming out playing hard here and showing the Island has got good teams. It’ll be a good match.”
Fong said that despite Isfeld’s seeding he expects a physical, fast-paced battle.
“The thing about sports, the better you do, the tougher the test. There’s no cupcakes, especially when you get to the semis.”
BOTTOM HALF DRAW
NO. 1 ST. THOMAS MORE 56 NO. 8 PITT MEADOWS 45
By Gary Kingston (special to Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY – When the goal is to hold an opposing team to 15 points a quarter – that’s 60 for the game for those who are mathematically challenged – seeing just 45 up on the scoreboard when the buzzer sounds is pretty good.
That was the case Thursday for the St. Thomas More Knights as the 3A No. 1 seed won its quarterfinal matchup over the No. 8 Pitt Meadows Marauders, 56-45, at the senior boys provincial basketball championships.
Except for a mid-fourth quarter burst when the Marauders hit a trio of three-pointers in a two-minute stretch to close to within six points, it was a master class in lockdown defence for a Grade 12-laden Knights squad with its eyes on a senior title to go with the junior crown that the nucleus won in 2023.
“Yeah, it was pretty good,” STM head coach Denzel Laguerta said of the blanket his squad threw around Pitt Meadows.
“It’s hard, though, to find any positives right now with that game, especially in today’s era when everything’s so high-scoring. You look up and it’s like ‘Man, we only have 23 points at the half. But we held them to 21.
“Our metric is usually 15 a quarter and we were well under that, so credit to the kids. They gutted it out.”
While the offence struggled at times, in part due to a strong defensive game from the Mauraders, the Knights did just enough in the second half to ensure they advanced to Friday’s semifinal against the winner of the late game between MEI and Wellington.
UBC commit Zeru Abera led the way with 15 points, while player-of-the-game Logan Ball, a 6-foot-5 forward and one of only three Grade 11 on the 14-man roster had 12. Ten of those points came in the second half, including a key basket with four minutes remaining that was sandwiched between the Marauders’ run of treys.
Laguerta said there were times in the game when Abera tried to force things a little bit too much and it got him into trouble.
“But that’s his personality. He’s kind of alpha in that sense. We have to tell him to move the ball around because we have other guys who are talented, like Logan. It’s nice to have that inside presence because STM is historically known for just being a team of tiny guards.”
The Knights clinched the game by going 8-of-11 from the free throw line in the final two minutes.
Guard Brodie Magnuson led the Marauders with 13 points, including a trio of threes in the fourth quarter to keep Pitt Meadows close.
“We knew No. 20 on Pitt Meadows (Magnuson) is a really good shooter,” said Laguerta. “And it’s kind of annoying (that he was allowed time beyond the arc) because we tell our guys 40-minute focus and you can’t have lapses.”
With the No. 6 and No. 3 seeds – Magee and St. Patrick – having been eliminated already by No. 11 Mark R. Isfeld, Laguerta said it reinforces what he’s been saying about good parity in the Tier.
“There’s good teams, good coaches. It’s going to be a fun Final Four.”
NO. 5 WELLINGTON 68 NO. 4 MEI 66
By GARY KINGSTON (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY – At 6-foot-9, Wellington Wildcats big man Brayden Savage is a tough guy to miss. Anywhere. Any time.
But when foul trouble forced him to take a seat on the bench for more than 10 minutes of the second half of the ‘Cats 3A quarterfinal on Thursday against the MEI Eagles, he was missed in a whole different sense. This was a noticeable absence Big time.
Without him, Wellington scored just five third quarter points and coughed up a 10-point halftime lead. As he stewed on the pine, Savage was dying a bit inside as his teammates went colder than the other side of the pillow.
When coach Luke Letham put him back in with 8:24 remaining in the game, the effect was immediate and game-altering. His first touch was a defensive rebound. He followed that with a couple of turnaround one-handed baskets in the lane, a block on the defensive end and a strong move inside for a layup off glass, all part of a 11-0 run that put the Wildcats back in control en route to a 68-66 victory.
“He’s an impact guy,” said Letham of the Grade 12 who finished with 19 points. “I told him (while on the bench) to keep his head in it because he’s going to be a guy who makes a difference in the long run. He came back in and he was one of the difference makers, changing some shots, getting lots of blocks and rebounding and some nice finishes on the other end.”
“It was really hard,” Savage said of his down time. “I was sitting there almost shaking. It was crazy, man. The heart was racing.”
Hearts were in a few throats in the final seconds, with a desperation heave from beyond half court by MEI guard Mercer Thiessen clanging off iron as the buzzer went.
With the win, the Nanaimo school makes it two Vancouver Island squads in the Final Four after No. 11 seed Mark. R. Isfeld of Courtenay made it back-to-back upsets with a 90-79 triumph over No. 3 St. Patrick in the opening game of the day on Centre Court.
And suddenly, Island basketball is about more than just the 4A powerhouse troika of Spectrum, Dover Bay and Oak Bay, with the first two favored to be in the final of the 4A championship game on Saturday.
“It’s amazing for Island basketball,” said Letham. “I feel like we’ve (Wellington and Isfeld) kind of been underestimated in Triple A. Isfeld has been good. We’ve had four battles with them this season. I knew they were going to be tough coming in (to provincials). We all called that first-round (upset) against Magee.
“I’d love to see an Island final.”
To make it to Saturday, Wellington will have to first get past No. 1 seed St. Thomas More Knights of Burnaby in a Friday semifinal. The two have not met this season.
“They’re very good . . . a very talented group,” said Letham. “But we do have a size advantage on them. Hopefully we can work inside. It should be a fun one, looking forward to it.”
So is Savage.
“They’re a super good team. I’m excited. With our size advantage we’ll have to pound it inside.”
Savage was also delighted to see Isfeld make the Final Four in 3A, joining Spectrum and Dover Bay as the talk of top tier hoops in B.C.
“The Island, we’re showing who we are, right. We’re contenders. We’re all top four now and it’s going to be crazy, man.”
Grayson Ritzand led the Wildcats in scoring Thursday with 22 points, nine of them coming off three-pointers. Zeke Lee had 21 for MEI, while Thiessen chipped in with 20.
If you’re reading this story or viewing these photos on any website other than one belonging to a university athletic department, it has been taken without appropriate permission. In these challenging times, true journalism will survive only through your dedicated support and loyalty. VarsityLetters.ca and all of its exclusive content has been created to serve B.C.’s high school and university sports community with hard work, integrity and respect. Feel free to drop us a line any time at howardtsumura@gmail.com.
