By Howard Tsumura
Varsity Letters
ABBOTSFORD — The Fraser Valley Cascades opened the Pacific Division men’s basketball campaign back on Oct. 24 at UBC’s War Memorial Gym with an injury-riddled line-up and a shooting game in desperate need of bandages.
Yet despite taking an 85-67 loss to the hometown Thunderbirds that night and starting the season with an ominous 0-3 mark, the Cascades never lost the firm belief that with perseverance, health and little good fortune they’d find their stride over the course of a 20-game Canada West regular season.
On Friday, in a rare afternoon matinee rematch staged within the cozy confines of their own UFV Athletic Centre, the Cascades did just that, hitting on an ultra-efficient 9-of-13 three-point attempts between the second and third quarters, and riding that marksmanship to an eventual 91-85 win over the Thunderbirds.
The victory was UFV’s ninth in its past 12 games, and also its first over UBC in men’s basketball since an 84-82 win over the ‘Birds in a home game played Jan. 4, 2020.
Thus a victory a half-decade in the works allowed third-place Fraser Valley (10-6) to even the season series against second-place UBC (12-3), with the rubber match in the three-game regular-season series set to be played back at UFV Athletic Centre 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Needless to say, UFV head coach Joe Enevoldson knew shooting with precision was going to be huge for his team against a Thunderbirds’ team riding an 11-game win streak and possessing a wingspan-laden defence that had been doing its job in suffocating opposition offensive options.
“Against UBC’s big, long zone, I think you gotta shoot the ball well,” said Enevoldson, who took the helm of the UFV program during the COVID-cancelled 2020-21 season and had not beaten the ‘Birds over his subsequent four-plus hardcourt campaigns. “We’ve had nights where we’ve shot the ball pretty well, and we had nights where we haven’t, and, you know, the ball fell today.”
The real story emerges when you compare and contrast UFV’s two distinctly different shooting performances against UBC this season.
Back in November, with fifth-year senior Dario Lopez and Mattias Klim both injured and unavailable, the Cascades shot a painful 1-for-14 from the long line, and weren’t much better from anywhere else on the court as part of its 18-point loss.
On Friday in Abbotsford, UFV wasn’t much better to start, going 1-for-6 from the three in the first quarter, but when things got rolling they were at their best.
Second-year guard Dil Randhawa, who was 1-for-10 from the field against UBC back in November, including 0-of-8 from three-point range, rid himself of the sour taste he’s had in his mouth the past two months, scoring 17 of his game-high 24 points over the second and third quarters, going 6-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from downtown over that span.
As well, Klim came off the bench and went 5-of-5 from three-point range, as the Cascades shot 42 percent (11-of-26) from the three, and 50 per cent (32-of-64) from the field.
So, was Randhawa, the hometown product who starred at Abby Secondary during his high school days, thinking about personally redeeming himself from what was a tough start to his season eight weeks ago?
“One-hundred per cent,” he said following the contest. “That first game, this whole week during practice, it was going through my mind. I just wanted to make sure that I didn’t leave that stone unturned. I just really wanted to have a great game today. I didn’t expect it to be the game it was today, but 24 points… my teammates found me in the right spots and I just had to do my job, which I did.”
Randhawa’s presence as a second-year player is logically huge the rest of this season, yet it’s safe to say he’s a program cornerstone for the future.
“One of the more cerebral players I ever coached in my career, you know, his IQ is off the charts,” Enevoldson said of Randhawa afterwards. “He knows how to play the game, knows how to use his body well and can really, really get going, and when he does get going, it’s auto. I mean, for him to perform well against the ‘Birds is a great indicator of where he’s at in his career and, you know, this is obviously huge moving forward.”
Clearly, getting the fifth-year Lopez back from injury four games before the winter break has provided the Cascades with the kind of stability needed for the rest of the group to gain momentum and traction.
“We’re fortunate to have him back at the right time of year,” said Enevoldson of the 6-foot-7 Spaniard who added 19 points in the win. “So, I mean, that’s what we got to keep focussing on. And obviously he’s pretty good. I mean, he’s a conference all-star and you know, could have been close to becoming our all-time leading scorer had he been healthy. But he’s still a 1,300-point scorer in our program.”
And Klim, showing great consistency with his shooting stroke, gave the Cascades essential bench points over his 15 minutes of floor time.
“For him to see it go down at that rate with which we always knew he was capable of… it’s just a matter of putting it together night in, night out,” said Enevoldson. “And if he does that, we’ve always said all along when when Matthias is playing at his best, we are at our best.”
Jaylen Lee had 11 points and Bennett O’Connor had nine for the winners. UBC point guard Holt Tomie led six Thunderbirds in double-figures with 19 points. Big-man Nikola Guzina added 16, and rookie Edouard Gauthier came off the bench with 14 points.
Of course, the very nature of the Canada West precludes any kind of celebration lasting any longer than the length of a post-game meeting.
“We kind of are taking the viewpoint that every Canada West win is a good win,” Enevoldsen. “And it doesn’t matter whether you’re playing UVic, UBC, or if you’re playing some of the other schools. You know that every time you step on the floor, a team’s capable of beating you. Again, you gotta quote Kobe. Kobe Bryant just said ‘Job’s not done’. We still got one more to do tomorrow. While today’s a great win, we still have work to do.”
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