Hello B.C. boys high school basketball fans.
Final Four Friday has arrived.
Myself and our Varsity Letters’ team of writers will be bringing you full coverage of all eight semifinals form the 1, 2, 3 and 4A tiers tonight.
Remember that whatever tier you’re reading about here, all you need to do is go there main page at VarsityLetters.ca to find portals to the other three off of our main page.
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Enjoy the games and keep coming back for updates through the night.
FINAL FOUR FRIDAY (at Centre Court)
ALL STORIES BY NICOLAS HAUKA (Special for Varsity Letters)
No. 6 Gidgalang Kuuyas Naay 72 No. 2 Maple Ridge Christian 72
LANGLEY — Everyone loves a good underdog story.
There’s nothing quite like a Cinderella run where one upset win after another leaves opposing teams in shock and the No. 6 Gidgalang Kuuyas Naay Breakers are in the process of writing their own underdog story right here at the B.C. Provincial 1-A Championships at the Langley Events Center.
The Breakers, hailing from the small island of Haida Gwaii, looked right in their comfort zone on the big stage at Center Court on Friday.
In a semifinal matchup against the No.2 Maple Ridge Christian Hornets, the Breakers punched their tickets with a jaw-dropping 72-71 upset victory.
“You know, we’re a small school. A lot of us are First Nations. We’re unique in every sort of sense. These boys live together, play together, and play in the village gym together. They know exactly what they’re up against, and that fuels fire within them,” Breaker’s head coach Desi Collinson said.
This team is undoubtedly unique.
Playing Coach Collinson’s “Village ball” this team employs a different level of grit.
Every loose ball is attacked as if recovering it is life or death. Rebound up for grab? You’re bound to see at least two Breakers players swarming under the hoop to retrieve the ball. If you’re standing in the way of a Breakers layup, they will fearlessly lay their body on the line at any cost to score.
Also unique is coach Collinson’s secret weapon, centre and semifinals Player of the Game Temo Laughlin, excellent under the rim at both ends of the floor, as most centers are. What makes him special though is his silky three-point jumper. With his team struggling to score early, Laughlin hit two of his four three-pointers on the night on consecutive possessions, for six of his team-high 24 on the night.
Hornets star Carson Barber went toe-to-toe with Laughlin all game long. Finishing with a game-high 31 points, the Hornets star did everything he could to will his team to victory.
With the game tight in the third quarter, the Hornets started to pull away with help from their bench. After missing last night’s quarterfinal matchup with a sprained ankle, Caleb Arrington took the court for the Hornets despite a noticeable limp. Limp be damned, Arrington got to his spot right at the free throw line and hit fade-away jumpers and step-throughs to finish with 16 points and have his team up by ten going into the fourth.
With their backs against the wall, down double digits, coach Collinson wasn’t worried.
“Everything was okay because I know how we can play,” he said. ” I know the style that we play as I’ve already said to you before. I know that we’re going to go on runs. There are ups, there are downs. I know we’ll do the most to win”
With time of the essence, The Breakers turned to point guard Levi Burton. Burton’s usually lethal three-point shot was off all night. He adjusted when his team needed him most by getting into the lane and driving ferociously for contested layups.
Those layups led to a big Breakers run, and with only 2 minutes to go, a Breakers team that had trailed for 31:16 of the game thus far had the lead.
After Barber regained the lead on a ridiculous double-clutch layup for the Hornets and a miss at the other end by the Breakers, it was the Hornets’ ball with just a minute to go.
Barber drove into the paint with a berth in the finals at stake, trying to extend the lead. As he did, two Breakers converged and stripped the ball from him. Coming away with the ball for the Breakers was Laughlin. He looked up and, without hesitation, threw a full-court pass, hitting Loay Almahmid in Stride, who laid it in for the go-ahead basket.
Down 72-71, the Hornets had one more chance to save their season. Driving into the lane one more time, The Hornets’ potential winning bucket was denied once again by Laughlin. The upset was complete, and with that, the Breakers were off to the Championship game for the first time ever.
“They know how to represent their community and their people. That’s basically what they thrive off, and they know how to play basketball while doing it, right? They’re individuals with purpose.” Collinson was beyond proud of his team.
Representing their Haida community, the Breakers will look to finish this underdog story like any feel-good sports movie. With a win over heavy Favorites, the No.1Unity Christian Flames in the 1-A Provincial finals tomorrow.
No. 1 Unity Christian 77 No. 4 St. Ann’s Academy 63
LANGLEY — The No. 1 Unity Flames are the team to beat in the B.C. Provincial 1-A tournament.
With speed, length, and skill, the Flames have it all. The Tallest team in the tournament,
the Flames ‘sheer size is apparent from tip-off. As if that wasn’t difficult enough to deal
with, they happen to have one of the most dynamic guards in the whole tournament, Jay
Smiens.
“Oh man, I’m so happy for him. He’s a beauty kid. He’s a competitor, a fighter, and
today, his focus was fantastic. He was helping players, calling switches, and setting our
guys up. It was a quarterback-type play performance. Flames head coach David Bron
had to say about his star’s 34 points and four assists in a 77-63 semifinals victory over the
No.4 St. Ann’s Academy Crusaders at the Langley Events Center Friday night.
Standing at 6-foot-3, Smiens is a matchup nightmare for opposing teams.
Too tall for your average guard to defend and too quick for a forward to keep up with, Smiens scored at
will Friday night. Leading his team on an early run, the Flames led 19-2 just minutes into this contest.
Give the Crusaders some credit, though. Despite the huge deficit, they collected
themselves and made a game of it. This effort really Impressed Flames coach Bron.
“I just told their coach they could have broken at any point, and it’s so hard to play and to
push back when you’re down 20. That was just incredible. That was a character
performance.”
Refusing to break, the Crusaders, led by Aidan Sethen’s 19 points, cut the lead to just
12 midway through the fourth quarter. “We gave up some offensive rebounds, and they
had easy putbacks, then all of a sudden they came back in the fourth there and made us
nervous,” said Bron on the sequence.
You know who wasn’t nervous? Jay Smiens. Showing no worry, Smiens flew by
Crusaders defenders time and time again, getting inside to finish floaters and layups for the Flames. Smiens stellar play regained the big lead and put away the game with 77-63 being the final score.
With the win, the Flames will return to their fourth straight 1-A Championship game. In
their way is the underdog No.6 Gidgalang Kuuyas Naay Breakers.
The Breakers play a very physical brand of basketball, something coach Bron has a plan for. “They’re
a strong team. So, if we play fast and do that kind of sports car versus the tank, I think that
will be an advantage for us sometimes.”
Tomorrow, we will see if the Flames’ sports cars can speed by the Breakers untouched
or if the heavier, sturdier Breakers tanks can get in their way, stopping the Flames in
their tracks.
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