LANGLEY — Kaman Kaila swears he was feeling it in the warm-ups early Sunday afternoon here at the B.C. junior boys basketball championships.
With his New Westminster Hyacks set to face the Richmond Colts on the consolation side of the bracket, the 6-foot-2 grade 10 guard had a feeling he might be able to do something special.
Four quarters later, Kaila had put on a clinic in efficient, high-volume bucket making, to the point where his 51 points became the new single-game record here at the 54th annual provincial tourney, all part of a 103-65 win over the Colts.
With those 51 points, Kaila broke the record of set 53 years ago in 1971 by Brian Noga of Alpha Secondary in Burnaby.
The closest anyone had come to Noga’s mark in a half century was in 2002 when Steve Waring of J.L. Jackson in Salmon Arm scored 43. Noga also scored 42 in the same tournament back in 1971.
It’s important to note that junior games are 32 minutes in length as opposed to 40.
Before scoring 51, 43 points was also Kaila’s previous career high.
Kaila wasn’t afraid to admit that he was aware of Noga’s mark, and that in his mind he felt he had a chance to shatter it.
“Yeah, I did actually,” he smiled Monday after scoring 13 points in his team’s 82-50 loss to Abbotsford Christian. “I knew it was 46 so I tried to break it. I subbed off and had 43 and then said ‘I am so close’ and so I went back in.”
Perhaps the most fascinating part of the story is that playmaking is just as big or bigger a part of Kaila’s game than scoring is.
“He does a bit of everything and to be honest, he’s not a score-first guy… he likes to pass the ball,” said Hyacks’ head coach Udhay Mangat, who pointed out that Kaila’s 51-point outing was actually part of a triple-double which included 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
“He’s our team leader in assists… he does score, he can give us 20 every game, and if you look at the stats, he shares the ball.”
And to prop those 51 points up even more, Kaila went 24 of 35 from the field, including three triples. He scored 17 two-point buckets in the second half and didn’t go to the free throw line once.
His favourite NBA player?
LeBron James “because he does everything and he has been doing it for so long,” Kaila said.
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