By AARON MARTIN (Special for Varsity Letters)
No. 4 BRENTWOOD COLLEGE 82 No. 13 CHARLES HAY 54
LANGLEY — Brentwood College weathered an early storm on Wednesday evening, parlaying a dominant second half into an 82-54 win over the Charles Hayes Rainmakers in their opening-night clash at the B.C. Double-A High School Boys Championships.
The Sweet 16 contest saw the Rainmakers, who came in as the No. 13 seed, play up to their name. Of Charles’ Hayes 11 made field goals in the first quarter, seven came from beyond the arc. And of the four two-pointers, Alex Lieu knocked down two of those within the game’s first three minutes. A testament to their game plan and willingness to play a high-risk game, the Rainmakers’ proficiency from deep allowed them to keep an explosive Brentwood side off-kilter, even leading by as many much as 17-11 early on.
“I was pretty pleased overall,” said BC head coach Blake Gage. “A lot of teams are coming off 10-plus days without playing, and so there was a bit of rust to knock off, but also, Charles Hayes is a really good team. They had a great game plan, knew everything we wanted to do early. For us to go out, keep our composure in that situation, and get it done, I thought that was good.”
However, Brentwood kept the Rainmakers’ damage on the perimeter, while dominating the paint on both sides of the court.
After taking a 35-31 lead into halftime, BC really broke open the contest coming out of the break. Brentwood didn’t allow a single Rainmakers bucket for over half of the third stanza, reeling off an 11-0 run to go up by 15 by the time Charles Hayes could get their bearing.
Milan Pasquale was a force for Brentwood all evening, notching a game-high 32 points, 11 of which came in that wild third quarter. After the Rainmakers notched their initial basket of the half, the two sides really seemed to open up. The game turned into a track meet, with both sides suddenly running up and down the floor at will and putting up points.
“They definitely made some shots early – Hayes has some very good shooters,” said Gage. “It took us a little while to figure out who they were and what they wanted to do on offense. Once we did, I think that’s when you saw things shift – we definitely did a better job of trailing those shooters as the game went on.”
Charles Hayes posted an impressive 16 points in that final four-and-a-half minutes of the frame, but were still unable to cut into the daunting BC lead – the Vancouver Island – Mill Bay champs took a 72-47 advantage into the fourth.
Amidst the whirlwind of the provincial tournament, Gage noted that the turnaround time makes for a tough preparation condition as they get ready for the semifinals tomorrow against Kamloops’ Westsyde Whundas.
“We’re gonna go get some dinner, fuel up a little, then just sit down and go over tonight. Stretch the team out, keep them loose, and go over the game plan for tomorrow. It’s gonna be fun.”
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