B.C. Quad-A Girls Final Four Friday Game 1 Argyle vs. Semiahmoo

NO. 1 ARGYLE 86 NO. 5 SEMIAHMOO 61 

By DAN KINVIG (Special for Varsity Letters)

Over the first two rounds of the B.C. Quad-A provincial tournament, trying to stop Jaida Claypool and the Semiahmoo Thunderbirds’ high-octane offence evoked lyrics from the classic movie musical The Sound of Music.

How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?

How do you keep a wave upon the sand?

How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?

If you’re now humming the tune to “Maria”, you have great taste in movies. 

You also know, as the song so eloquently states, that when it comes to solving a problem like Maria (or Jaida, as the case may be)… you really can’t.

The daunting task facing the Argyle Pipers on Friday evening in the Quad-A semifinals was throwing a blanket over Claypool – only in Grade 11 yet already on the fast track to becoming one of the most accomplished scorers in tournament history – and her supporting cast of dynamic perimeter snipers.

And while stopping Claypool entirely was never going to be realistic, the No. 1-seeded Pipers found some impressive defensive solutions as the game wore on, powering a 86-61 victory to punch their ticket to Saturday’s championship game.

They’ll face the winner of Friday’s late semi between the MEI Eagles and Riverside Rapids in the Langley Event Centre’s Arena Bowl (7:45 p.m.).

“I think Jaida is probably the best player in the province at her age,” Argyle head coach Anthony Beyrouti said afterward. “She really came to compete today, and so did their whole team. They’re very well-coached, they run really good stuff, and they came ready to take us out. 

“But we stayed focused, we showed our composure, and we just started executing. We chipped away at it, and took care of business.”

The No. 5-seeded Thunderbirds came into Friday’s action averaging 80.5 points per game in the tournament, and they came out piping hot vs. the Pipers. They drained 5-of-7 attempts from three-point range in the first quarter, with Savanna Wong, Priya Sangha, Mya Thompson and Claypool connecting from distance.

Semiahmoo shot 53.3 per cent from the field in the frame and led by as many as six points, but Argyle, no slouches themselves at scoring the basketball, got their transition game going and managed 45.8 per cent shooting themselves. It was no slugfest – it was a sprint.

The Pipers rallied to grab a slim 24-23 lead after 10 minutes, and you had to wonder – with all of the offensive pyrotechnics, would these teams threaten the 100-point plateau before it was all said and done?

Well, the Pipers had other plans – specifically, they abandoned their man-to-man defence in favour of a zone, which allowed them to continue to skew their defensive attention Claypool’s way while remaining within arm’s reach of Semi’s perimeter shooters. 

Slowly but surely, the tide began to turn, and Argyle clawed out a 47-37 lead at the break. Isabella Miljkovic was in the middle of it, racking up nine points in the second quarter alone.

“We went to a zone because they were carving us up pretty good,” Beyrouti explained with a wry chuckle. “They’re really quick and they have a lot of good players, so we had to have some more coverage on the outside. We went to our zone to take away their threes, and it worked out pretty well.”

The third quarter was more of the same. Perhaps no team playing at the LEC this week transitions from defence to offence faster than Argyle, and once they started getting stops, the points started to flow. The 10-point edge doubled by the end of the third, with the Pipers up 69-49, and they kept the Thunderbirds at arm’s length from there.

Claypool still got her points, racking up a game-high 24. But considering she’d averaged 31.2 points per game over her last six provincial tourney games dating back to last season, and considering her offensive output Friday required 22 field goal attempts as Arygle made her work for absolutely everything, you had to tip your cap to the Pipers’ defence. 

Sangha added 15 points, and Thompson chipped in with 10 for the Surrey squad.

The 6’0” Miljkovic and 6’2” Sophie Nicholson had mirror-image stat lines for the Pipers – the senior forwards tied for team-high scoring honours with 17 points apiece on equally efficient 8-of-15 performances from the field. 

“We’ve kind of been a duo the whole year,” Miljkovic noted with a smile post-game. “I really like playing with Sophie – she’s always in the right spots, and she’s a great communicator. When I drive, she pops up, and if I miss, she’s going to get the rebound.”

Eva Woodward, Argyle’s 6’5” centre, had a double-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, and Mariia Maydan (14 points), Kelsey Hungle (10 points) and Sadie Danks (nine points) also chipped in offensively.

Looking ahead to the opportunity to play for a provincial crown tomorrow, Miljkovic said “it means the world.”

“I’ve been waiting for this for four years,” she said. “It would mean everything to me, honestly, to finish my high school career off with a win in the finals. Obviously we’ll see tomorrow, but I’m hoping for the best and I’m going to try my hardest just like I did today. 

“The biggest thing for us? Communication and defence . . . and just being calm.”

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