Boys 1A championship final: Upset bid earn’s crowd’s rapt attention, but Haida Gwaii’s Breakers fall in the end to dynastic Flames of Unity Christian!

BY GARY KINGSTON (Special for Varsity Letters)

LANGLEY – It was going to be a Cinderella story for the ages in the B.C. senior boys Single A basketball final at Langley Events Centre.

But, alas, there would be no dramatic, Hoosiers-like finish on Saturday as the gutsy, upset-minded Gidgalang Kuuyas Naay Breakers from Haida Gwaii ran out of size and bench depth in the closing minutes and the Unity Christian Flames cemented their dynasty status with a 74-71 nail-biter.

“That was one of the hardest games I’ve ever had to coach,” said relieved Unity Christian bench boss David Bron. “When all the momentum was against us – it felt like it anyway – our boys managed to turn it back. I’m super happy.”

It was the third title in four seasons for the orange-clad Flames from Chilliwack, who won titles in 2020 and 2022 and were upset in the 2023 final by King David. Covid forced cancellation of the 2021 tournament.

“This feels great,” said a beaming Jay Smiens, Unity’s Grade 12 guard who had 22 points and whose three-pointer early in the fourth quarter keyed a 15-5 spurt.

“Last year, we underestimated (King David). We made sure we came in ready this year.”

That was reflected early as the Flames built a 35-23 lead in the second quarter. But the Breakers, with bulldog-like guard Greg Puterill bleeding from the knee and he and overrmatched forward Loay Almahmiid battling ferociously on the boards against Unity’s quartet of bigs, fought back relentlessly to take a 64-62 lead midway through the final quarter.

The tide turned again when Almahmiid, who had 16 boards, fouled out, with 3:59 remaining. He was followed to the sidelines two minutes later by 19-point man Trace Swain and the Flames quickly went ahead 72-66.

Breakers head coach Desi Collinson, who played just six players all game, was clearly unhappy with some of the foul calls but tried mightily to hold his tongue.

“That was a big time situation for us,” he said. “We’re all playing with four (fouls) and that puts us in the deep end again. I’m trying to say the right thing because I’m feeling a little bit disappointed and upset with how things played out at the end.

“I felt like that was our game, should have been our game and I still believe that right now that that was our game.”

Six-foot-seven centre Ryder Vanderkooi matched Smiens with 22 points and added a game-high 19 rebounds. Six-foot-six Ryan Post chipped in with 10 boards, a pair of blocked shots and seven points for the Flames.

Still, the game almost went to overtime.

Temo Laughlin, whose three-pointer with 32 seconds left pulled the Breakers to within three, threw up another three-point try at the buzzer only to have it clang off the right side of the iron.

While there would be no inspirational title for the Breakers, the runner-up finish was the best ever by a school from the remote archipelago in northwestern B.C. once known as the Queen Charlotte Islands.

In fact, no team from Haida Gwaii had ever finished in the top 10 of any of the four tiers of high school boys basketball in the province.

Basketball is entwined in the fabric of the Haida Gwaii culture, but facing an eight-hour ferry ride just to get to the mainland, there is very little opportunity for the senior boys to test themselves against top teams in the province. In fact, the Breakers played just nine games all season against high schoolers. Most of the school year, they play against men’s teams in the Haidas.

Collinson said it was all part of the adversity challenges his group of mostly indigenous players face.

“Us always stepping into a different environment and having to morph and adapt to those situations I feel is sometimes a little unfair. But that just may be my emotions overcoming me. But it is the province, it is B.C. and there is going to be different colors, different ethnic backgrounds . . . so, us stepping into a different environment, we’re always up against adversity.”

Still, he recognized the significance of what his squad had accomplished.

“It’s giving other small schools, not just First Nations, not just minorities, it’s giving them inspiration. That’s the purpose of life, in my opinion, to inspire others.”

Levi Burton, who had a team-high 20 points for the Breakers, said taking a silver medal back to Haida Gwaii is something special. But he lamented the missed opportunity to capture the school’s first provincial title.

“It hurts knowing we only made it to second (place). We knew we were underdogs coming in. No one knew who we were. The northwest zone is the least known zone in the province.

“Me and Temo have been dreaming about this for three years. It’s just heartbreaking we couldn’t finish it.”

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