NO. 2 RIVERSIDE 80 NO. 3 MEI 69
By DAN KINVIG (Special for Varsity Letters)
Climbing Everest without oxygen.
Swimming the English Channel.
Crossing the Sahara on foot.
All epic feats of human strength, skill and endurance.
Let’s add one more to the list: Dribbling the basketball in Francesca Salonga’s general vicinity.
It’s not for the faint of heart, as the MEI Eagles discovered in their Quad-A provincial semifinal match-up with Salonga’s Riverside Rapids on Friday evening at the Langley Events Centre.
For Salonga, the sound of an opponent’s dribble triggers a response like that of a shark smelling blood in the water.
Her measurables in the tournament program (Grade 10, 5’5”) are the opposite of imposing. But by the time the final buzzer had sounded, her team had secured an 80-69 victory and she had a historic set of numbers next to her name in the box score: 18 points, 10 assists, 10 steals. An ultra-rare points-assists-steals triple-double.
There are enough holes in the tournament record books to make it impossible to discern whether this has been done before at provincials in B.C.’s highest girls basketball tier.
But to put it into perspective, consider this: Google AI turns up just two games with at least 10 points, 10 assists and 10 steals in NBA history (Clyde Drexler of the Portland Trailblazers and Alvin Robertson of the San Antonio Spurs, both in 1986), and none in WNBA history.
So what Salonga accomplished on Friday is incredibly special.
“She’s just a quiet assassin – I love her game,” MEI head coach Sarah Neufeld said marveled. “She could care less if she gets credit, she always makes the right pass, and clearly she did that tonight.
“On my scout, she’s the heartbeat of that team, and she proved that tonight.”
Salonga’s impact was felt from the opening tip. She was instrumental during a stretch which saw the Eagles turn the ball over on three straight possessions, turning an early 6-5 MEI edge into a 14-6 Riverside lead.
The Port Coquitlam-based Rapids were also executing at an extremely high level offensively in the first half, slicing and dicing the Eagles with great actions and backdoor cuts, and their lead at the break was 40-27.
Riverside continued to cook early in the third – Salonga and Kaitlyn Vergara drained back-to-back treys, then Salonga stepped in front of an MEI pass in transition and fed Ari Brown for an easy lay-up, and it was 48-29.
The Eagles were in trouble, but a switch to a 3-2 zone defence helped them gain some traction, and Tanayah Bos got it going from long distance at the other end of the court, drilling a trio of treys in quick succession. Riverside still led by double digits (62-49) at the end of the third quarter, but she’d given her team a tiny spark of hope.
That spark became a flame in the fourth, as 6’2” senior forwards Ella Tatlock and Julianna Reimer took turns putting their team on their backs. First, it was Tatlock scoring seven straight MEI points to open the frame, cutting the deficit to 63-59 with eight minutes remaining. MEI’s student section chanting “Don’t get rattled” at Riverside. Game on.
Later on, Reimer popped off for six quick points of her own, and the Eagles were back to within 70-67 with 2:20 left in regulation.
Riverside regained control at that juncture, and not a moment too soon. A pair of Brown free throws and two more at the charity stripe from Salonga made it 76-67 with 35 seconds left, and the Rapids were able to see the game out from there.
Afterward, Riverside head coach Paul Langford noted that Salonga has made opposing point guards wave the white flag on several occasions this season.
“She’s made a lot people say ‘I’m not bringing the ball up when she’s guarding me,’” he related.
“What can you say? She’s awesome. Her and I battle. I yell at her all the time. She’s just an awesome kid, and a competitor. I love her to death, but she probably doesn’t have the same feeling for me.”
Salonga, for her part, said that the ball pressure she brings is just a way to serve her teammates.
“Our coach always says, ‘Make the person behind you a hero,’” she said with a smile. “Putting ball pressure on is always something I can do.”
As for the triple double?
“I couldn’t have done it without my team. It’s just fun.”
Henna Virk also had a big game for the Rapids, finishing with 16 points and five rebounds. Caitlin Moore (15 points) and Brown (10 points) also scored in double figures.
Reimer had a big game for the Eagles, pouring in 21 points on an efficient 9-of-14 shooting line. Bos counted five three-pointers among her 15 points, and Tatlock added 13 points.
MEI finished with 30 turnovers on the night, and Neufeld noted the Eagles’ struggles to protect the ball and defend the paint in the first half put them behind the eight ball.
“I felt like we gave them opportunities in the first half that they didn’t deserve, just because we didn’t want to handle pressure – we wanted it out of our hands,” she said. “More than that in the first half, though, was us just giving up right-hand drives and not being in help side. This is a hard team to guard, simply because they run good stuff and everybody can score.
“I just begged our players at halftime to commit to the 3-2 . . . and they did. It took us a little bit to get going into that (defence), but obviously it proved to slow Riverside down. It also gave us a chance to rebound, which we didn’t do a great job of in the first half.”
Saturday’s championship game will pit Riverside against the top-seeded Argyle Pipers, and Langford was quick to downplay his team’s chances, noting the Pipers’ superior length.
“We beat them once (in four match-ups this season), but I don’t think they were very well (healthy) that time,” Langford said. “I don’t know if we’ve got the height and the size to match them.”
Having said that, we all just watched a 5’5” player dominate for 40 minutes. Let’s see what happens.
If you’re reading this story or viewing these photos on any website other than one belonging to a university athletic department, it has been taken without appropriate permission. In these challenging times, true journalism will survive only through your dedicated support and loyalty. VarsityLetters.ca and all of its exclusive content has been created to serve B.C.’s high school and university sports community with hard work, integrity and respect. Feel free to drop us a line any time at howardtsumura@gmail.com.
