No. 6 SEMIAHMOO 73 No. 11 KELOWNA 64
LANGLEY — In the end, Semiahmoo’s two Jacks were enough to break the backs of the Kelowna Owls in a game won in this modern, three-point centric era of basketball with just two made triples.
Instead, it was more like throwback, cager-style hoops.
Senior post Jack Clayton and Grade 10 post Jack Snead combined to dominate in the paint Wednesday, scoring 49 of the Thunderbirds’ 73 points en route to a berth in Thursday’s 5:15 p.m. quarterfinal round game against the No. 3 West Vancouver Highlanders.
“They are a load to deal with,” admitted Semiahmoo head coach Les Brown after the defending B.C. champ’s 73-69 win. “They are both fundamentally really sound, and it’s like old-school basketball. It’s fun to watch for me, but maybe not some others. They’re not afraid to take contact and finish.”
The 6-foot-5 Clayton scored a team-high 28 points, highlighted by his team’s final bucket of the night as he powered through an Owl-packed paint and simply willed himself to the rim for a lay-up with 58 seconds remaining.
Snead, also 6-foot-5, scored 21 of his own, including 11 in the second half.
The other plot line, of course, surrounded Kelowna’s Nash Semeniuk, the senior scoring guard and one of the province’s elite scorers.
Semeniuk was guard by Semiahmoo’s Andre Juco, and although he did score a game-high 29 points including 10 in the fourth quarter, he could have scored 50 if not for the attention paid him by the Thunderbirds’ leading defensive man.
Clayton was happy for Snead after the game, noting the young player’s progress and how effective they can be as a tandem.
“I played with him last year and just try in every open gym to give him all my knowledge,” said Clayton of Snead, who joined Semiahmoo for its run to the title at the LEC last spring as a Grade 9. “I think he has come a long way. He joined us at provincials (last season) but practiced with us most of the time. Even this season in practice we are always on opposition teams and that is what coach Brown does, so I think he learns a lot.”
Brown added that the prospect of trying to find a way to try and slow Semeniuk down fell on the shoulders of Juco, who along with Clayton, play on the same Vancouver Sports Club basketball team with Semeniuk.
“He is so good,” Brown said of Semeniuk. “We just said to Andre, ‘You want him? Go take him,’ and I truly believe Andre Juco is one of the best defenders on the ball in the province. He just works his tail off all the time, so we just put our faith him.”
Owls guard Dominic Sodaro was the only other double-figure scorer in the game with 11 points.
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