NO. 2 L.A. MATHESON 85 NO. 6 ENVER CREEK 78
By DAN KINVIG (Special for Varsity Letters)
LANGLEY — Old-school basketball wisdom suggests that three-point volume is a double-edged sword: If you live by the three, you may also die by the three.
Well, the L.A. Matheson Mustangs are not adverse to hoisting a ton of shots from beyond the arc when the mood strikes… so where did they find themselves on the life/death spectrum on Friday evening in their B.C. 3A semifinal match-up vs. the Enver Creek Cougars?
Well, to borrow a line from Matthew McConaughey’s character in Dazed and Confused: The Mustangs were L-I-V-I-N.
Livin’.
And as a result, their provincial championship dreams will also live to see another day.
In an epic semifinal battle between Surrey rivals, a torrential downpour of three-pointers in the first quarter transformed the complexion of the game, and a pair of super-clutch treys from Avlik Paglinawan late in regulation sparked Matheson to a 85-78 victory, punching their ticket to the 3A title game.
“It feels great,” Mustangs senior point guard Jashan Mahal enthused afterward. “We’ve been working towards this all season.
“Last year in March, when we didn’t make it (to provincials), we all sat together collectively and we said, ‘Next year, we’re going to be here. And not only are we going to be here, we’re going to win it all.’
“That’s the opportunity we have tomorrow. That’s our goal.”
L.A. Matheson, coming off a quarter-final win over Brentwood College, had to wait to see who their opponent in the semis would be. When they heard that No. 6-seeded Enver Creek had upset No. 3 MEI, the Mustangs – according to Mahal – were fired up.
That’s because these two programs have a very special rivalry – the seniors have played each other at least a dozen times, dating back to Grade 8. This season alone, they’d seen each other three times prior to Friday. Enver Creek swept their home-and-home regular-season match-ups, and Matheson eked out a one-point win in the South Fraser zone final.
“That’s a hell of a basketball team, and we’ve had the craziest rivalry,” Mustangs head coach Tyler Ram explained. “These guys know each other inside and out.
“We ended up just making more shots in the first half, and that was the difference.”
Indeed, the Mustangs’ long-range assault in the early going was something to behold. They poured in six triples in the first quarter and two more early in the second, leading by as many as 18 (45-27) and taking a 48-34 cushion into halftime.
Considering that it was their first game of the week in the Arena Bowl, where teams often struggle to adjust due to the cavernous shooting backdrop and bright lights, it was impressive stuff.
Yet even when his team re-extended their lead to 19 points early in the third quarter, Ram wasn’t remotely ready to relax. That’s because in these types of rivalry games, it’s never over until it’s over.
Smeer Sandhar, Enver’s dynamic senior guard, dragged his team back into it, racking up 17 second-half points, and Harshan Toor knocked down a pair of fourth-quarter treys as the Cougars got back to within 70-65 with five minutes left in regulation.
The Mustangs, meanwhile, were dealing with some adversity – Jason Hothi, who led them in scoring on the night with 22 points, hit the floor on a three-point attempt and appealed for a foul… only to be assessed a technical foul for flopping. That doubled as his fifth personal foul, ending his night with plenty yet to be decided.
Off the bench came Paglinawan, and the Grade 11 guard came up with a trio of massive plays, drawing a charge and knocking down a pair of treys with less than two minutes left. The second, with 42 seconds remaining, put his team up 83-75, and they were able to hang on from there.
“He knows I have confidence in him to shoot those shots, and he was just ready and he let it fly, right?” Ram said of Paglinawan.
Mahal picked up player of the game honours after racking up 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and Damien Onokpite registered 19 points and eight boards for the Mustangs.
Sandhar’s 27 points led all scorers, and Enver Creek’s Sahaj Hans was a beast in the post on his way to a 24-point performance.
“It’s been a battle with them all five years . . . and they shot lights-out in that first quarter,” Cougars head coach Greg Reid said. “That’s the best they’ve shot in probably a year and a half against us. So trying to weather that storm, we put ourselves in a hole. Other games, it’s us doing that to them. So it’s one of those ebb-and-flow things.
“For us, the emotional energy we spent against MEI last night, we just didn’t have that edge that got us through yesterday to start the game (today). And then when they took it to us early, we got out of our stuff. Instead of shortening the run and limiting the damage, we let it go a little bit longer than it should have, and it hurt us.
“You saw the resiliency in the second half – we got it to a two-possession game. We just couldn’t overcome that deficit.”
The St. Patrick Celtics await the Mustangs in the final, and you could hardly invent a tougher test on paper. The Celtics have lost just one game all season, and are undefeated vs. 3A opponents. This week at provincials, they’ve scored more than 120 points in a game on two occasions.
“Our mentality is, yeah they’ve only lost one game, but they haven’t played us,” Mahal said. “Their coach has watched something like seven of our games now, so they’re prepared for us. But we’re also prepared for them. We know we’ve got size on them, we know we’re a great defensive team. That’s what we’ll stick with.”
Ram said that it’ll be crucial to slow down the Celtics’ run-and-gun offence.
“This is what we do it for – to have the opportunity to play one of the best teams in the province,” he said. “I have the utmost respect for Coach Nap (Santos) and his program.
“We just want a shot, right? And we’ve got it.”
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