LANGLEY — We’re down to the Sweet 16 here after Day 1 of the 2024 B.C. junior boys basketball championships at the Langley Events Centre.
Here’s a look at Saturday’s second round of championship sudden elimination as the field has been trimmed from 64 to 16 heading in Sunday’s quarterfinals.
Please keep checking back as we update this post throughout the evening.
TOP HALF DRAW
QUAD A
No. 1 Oak Bay 59 No. 16 Fleetwood Park 48
LANGLEY — Marcus Kao is still a youngster, but he’s showing every sign that he is ready to follow in the grand tradition of playmaking Oak Bay guards.
The Grade 10 Kao was playing as a true floor general Saturday, not only scoring a game-high 20 points to lead Victoria’s Bays into the quarterfinals here on Day 1 of the B.C. junior boys basketball championships, but showing the evolution of his position.
Kao was dishing with authority and his playmaking eye seemed to get sharper as the game clock ticked on.
With 4:11 left in the game, his half-court bullet to a cutting Lucas Border for a lay-in made the score 50-42 and signaled the start of the team’s game-breaking separation.
“He is learning how to be a point guard,” said Oak Bay head coach Dave Thomson afterwards.
“He has always been a scoring guard and he hasn’t had to distribute a lot, which is often what young kids get. They shoot the ball, they drive the ball, but now he is figuring out that there are four other guys on the floor and as a result is a much better and complete player. I think he’s got nothing but good times ahaed of him in senior. He is learning all the time, and that is what I really like.”
Of course, there is also no denying the impact Oak Bay has when it puts its three bigs in Noah Beck, Lucas Border and Simon Wiwcharuk-Burr in tandem at the back of its zone.
“I think that is a great advantage for us,” continued Thomson. “We use that zone a lot when we are in trouble with teams that are able to slice and dice, and they were a little quicker than us so they were getting to the lane. We had to get rid of that and put them on the perimierte. They did hit some threes, but I don’t think you can hit enough to beat us if we keep you out of the middle.”
Beck scored 18 for the winners, Olin Lakos nine, and Border eight.
Guard Jordan Cariaga, who provided the Dragons’ largest share of slice and dice, scored 16 in the loss. Teseong Cho had 13 points and Massie Harris had 10.
No. 8 Collingwood 64 No. 9 Rutland 44
LANGLEY — Oak Bay will go on to face West Vancouver’s Collingwood Cavlaiers, after the tourney’s No. 8 seeds stopped the No. 9 Rutland VooDoos of Kelowna 64-44.
Harry Bell hit three first quarter triples for the Cavaliers en route to a game-high 23 point performance. Jake McAdam added 15 and Peter Huang 10.
William Campbell, who flashed star quality for the VooDoos throughout the day, scored 19 points in the loss.
QUAD B
No. 5 Terry Fox 41 No. 12 Van Tech 23
LANGLEY — Rich Chambers swears he never mentioned it to his players in the pre-game.
In fact, in the aftermath of his team’s Sweet 16 win Saturday night here at the 2024 B.C. junior boys championships, he tried to convince a reporter that it had completely slipped his mind.
Chambers, at the helm of the Fox junior team, got his group to play a stifling brand of defence as the Fraser North champs from Port Coquitlam defeated the Vancouver Sea-to-Sky champion Van Tech Talismen 41-23.
Now, if hearing Terry Fox and Van Tech in the same breath at a provincial championship tournament doesn’t immediately spark a memory, it should… if you’re a die-hard fan or one of a certain vintage.
It was back in 1995 that the Ravens entered the then-top-tiered B.C. Triple-A championships looking to step into dynasty territory with a three-peat run.
But in the second round of that B.C. tourney at the PNE Agrodome, Terry Fox was stunned 56-46 by the Talismen.
When asked just how good a motivational card that one must have been to pull out of his pocket to inspire his team, since Chambers was still coaching the Ravens all those years ago, the gravel-voiced professor smiled a big smile.
“I didn’t,” he said. “I didn’t until you (mentioned it),” he said. “But I think about that game often. I think that that game, and Gladstone beating (clear favourite) Abbotsford (40-36 in the opening round of B.C.’s) are the two biggest upsets ever.”
Chambers paused, thought about his comment, then added with a huge laugh “… let’s say the Gladstone upset was bigger.”
On Saturday, the 2024 junior Ravens put on a clinic in defensive team basketball, limiting a champion from a major zone to under a point-a-minute and stifling literally every paint foray that a very well-coached and talented Van Tech team made over the first half.
“That is kind of our calling card… we weren’t ranked all year, right, so we’re 29-3 now… the kids have exceeded my expectations totally,” Chambers said. “We’ve got a tough game tomorrow (against South Fraser champion L.A. Matheson), and our big guy (6-foot-7 post Maxsym Cichecki) may be out for a tournament (with a groin injury).”
Chambers was willing to give his team plaudits, but he was unsatisifed at the other end of the floor.
“We didn’t play very well today… Van Tech did a good job on us with their zone,” he said. “We didn’t make any shots. So we were lucky to win.”
The game’s only double-figure scorer was Tech’s Lennox Leacock with 11.
Cichecki and Jayson Ikani led Fox with eight each, while Matthew Schnear and Marvin Reyes added seven apiece.
That sets up an 11:30 a.m. quarterfinal Sunday against L.A. Matheson.
“These kids they have a lot of fight and L.A. Matheson is a very good team,” he said. “You don’t win Surrey without being good.”
No. 4 L.A. Matheson 57 No. 13 Killarney 42
LANGLEY — Surrey’s long-time coming story is crafting some incredible plotlines as the tournament gets set to enter Day 2.
Making its first B.C. junior tournament, the No. 4 Mustangs had more than enough kick to get past its first two foes, including Killarney in the nightcap.
Damien Onopitke, Matheson’s dynamic 6-foot-5 forward, scored 12 of his game-high 21 points in the first quarter to lead the victors.
A 13-0 run as part of that first quarter provided enough cushion as the Cougars took their share of runs the rest of the way.
Jaiden Shergill added 12 and Jashan Mahal scored a further 11 for the winners.
Noa Skarica led the Cougars with 18 points while Nicolas Barton added 10 and Caine Fahrni eight more.
BOTTOM HALF DRAW
QUAD C
No. 2 Vancouver College 52 No. 15 Richmond 37
LANGLEY — Early rim protection by the Irish helped lead to fast-break opportunties in a game in which the No. 2 seeds were forced into a gritty affair by the Colts.
The Irish managed to re-gain control with a 10-point run which began late in the third quarter and helped push them out to a 40-30 lead.
Forward John Anthony scored 10 of his co-game-high 14 points in the first half as the Irish earned a spot in Sunday’s 1:30 p.m. semifinal against the Enver Creek-New Westminster winner.
Nathan Chen with nine and Micah Mayott with eight provided key contributions in a low-scoring contest.
Joshua Ning with 14 and Austin Lai with 13 led the Colts.
The Irish will advance to face Enver Creek in a 1 p.m. quarterfinal game Sunday on Centre Court.
No. 7 Enver Creek vs. No. 23 New Westminster
LANGLEY — If you look at their pre-tournament seed, Surrey’s Enver Creek Cougars are not supposed to have Final Four credentials here at the 2024 B.C. junior boys high school basketball championships.
Yet all the No. 7 seed has done through Day of competition is win both of their sudden-elimination games in resounding fashion with an unflappable demeanor.
After opening in the morning session with a 69-33 win over No. 26 Kelowna, the Cougs came back in the nighttime and looked even more impressive with a 64-48 win over No. 23 New Westminster.
Smeer Sandhar scored a game-high 20 points in the win over the Hyacks, as Enver Creek played perhaps the best defensive quarter of the 128 quarters contested Saturday in holding the Royal City crew to just two points in the third period.
Udhay Grewal added 15 and Gurtaj Hayer a further 10 in the win.
Jaylum Bhanghu led New Westminster with nine points while Karman Kaila had eight.
QUAD D
No. 22 Pacific Academy 64 No. 6 Abbotsford Christian 48
LANGLEY — The No. 22 slot in the B.C. junior boys basketball championship draw is not some sweet spot from which gain launch codes for the Sweet 16.
Unless, of course, you go by the code name Pacific Academy Breakers and you become the shock-the-field story of Day 1.
After turning the odds on its collective ear with a 64-35 win over No. 11 South Kamloops in round one, the Breakers got even better for the evening session.
Now, it’s 64-48 win over No. 6 Abbotsford Christian is making the private Surrey-based Christian school an underdog with momentum heading into its 1 p.m. South Court date Sunday with powerhouse and No. 3 seed St. Patrick’s on Sunday.
With the crowd hanging on its every move in the Field House on Saturday night, opening day came to a fitting close with a display shot-making precision courtesy of guard Judah Ashbee (game-high 27 points) and a pre-game ritual that his dad, head coach Joel Ashbee, happened to find over the internet.
“I found a TED Talks that talked about body language, and how you can actually bring your testosterone level up and your cortisol level down by doing power poses,” coach Ashbee replied when asked in the post-game what exactly had gotten into his team.
“So we spent like 10 minutes in the locker room just posing and chanting and being a bunch of goofballs and we have never played this good.”
Imagine that.
On Saturday, it was the impetus to get the Breakers their first pair of wins at the junior boys provincial tournament in the school’s history, a feat which would have been considered astounding on Friday night, but one which now has them a Sunday victory away from the Final Four.
“The last three games, we are peaking at the right time… I wish I knew why, but these guys are just unreal,” said coach Ashbee.
Comaraderie… team chemistry, and playing for each other… might they still be under-rated traits by too many teams?
“Hundred-percent,” said Ashbee. “Especially at this age… We’re dealign with adolescents, so team means everything to them. So if you can tap into that a little bit, we see what got here.
“It’s all about whoever is feeling the mojo and we are feeling the mojo right now.”
Tei Lee Kim and Adriel Bougeup 13 points apiece for the winners who basically won the game on the heels of a 14-2 run to close out the third quarter with a 47-34 lead.
Nil Oskere led the Knights with 19 points, while Micah Sikma and John Pool added 10 apiece.
No. 3 St. Patricks 76 No. 19 Rick Hansen 49
LANGLEY — The St. Patricks Celtics opened the fourth quarter on a 14-0 run and limited Abbotsford’s Rick Hansen Hurricanes to just a pair of fourth-quarter buckets en route to a 76-49 win and a quarterfinal berth Sunday at 1 p.m.
With Riley Santa Juana throwing down a game-high 22 points to go along with blanketing defence, the East Vancouver squad continued to show that its next wave of senior varsity talent is right on the horizon.
Guard Jaiden Quad added 21 points for the winners.
Harjap Thind led the Canes with 18 points, while Pratham Bhogal added 12 more.
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