SPECTRUM 79 NORTH DELTA 62
LANGLEY — It’s not going to be too far in the distant future before Justin Hinrichsen and Tyler Felt are going to be among the most talked-about players in B.C. boys high school basketball.
Shoot, it’s getting tougher and tougher by the day to ignore the Grade 10 sensations playing in the front court with Victoria’s Spectrum Thunder.
On Friday, in the final of the inaugural Tsumura Basketball Invitational’s Rising 8 bracket, the pair were golden to the tune of a combined 40 points, 27 rebounds, nine blocks, nine assists and four steals as Spectrum sprinted out on a second half-opening 12-point run en route to a 74-62 win over the North Delta Huskies.
“For a young group we are really coming of age, and our two Grade 10s are playing 40 minutes a game,” a proud Thunder head coach Tyler Verde said afterwards. “They’re making it happen inside, and they’re brining the ball up. They are playing above their age.”
The 6-foot-3 Hinrichsen, selected Rising 8 MVP, finished with 12 points, 17 rebounds, five blocks and three steals against the Huskies, while the 6-foot-5 Felt, selected Game MVP, was huge with 28 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
For the tourney, Hinrichsen averaged 19.6 points, 16.0 rebounds, six assists, 2.7 steals and 2.3 blocks. Felt averaged 19.0 ppoints 8.3 rebounds 4.6 blocks, 2.6 assists and 1.2 steals.
The Huskies, who enjoyed a spectacular run heading into the final had the misfortune of having to sit lead guard Harvir Hothi for an extended stretch after he picked up three first-quarter fouls.
Hothi still managed to finish with 18 points, while Kristian Cabico came off the bench to score 13 more. Krishian Jeet added 10 in the loss for North Delta.
Spectrum’s winning effort was made all the more memorable by the fact that so many others chipped into the winning cause, perhaps most notably compact 5-foot-7 Grade 11 guard Gio de Gracia.
“He guarded their best player,” Verde said of the assignment de Gracia took to try and stop Hothi, “and he even hit some threes today. Last season he barely saw the floor.
“Adam (Mount) and J Le (Justin Le) were great as well, and as a group everyone on this team is coming together. They are going to give some teams a lot of trouble.”
de Gracia hit three triples and finished with 16 points. Mount added a dozen.
The format of the Rising 8 and Local 8 brackets left room for first combining and then re-seeding the bracket to create unique Saturday matchups.
With that in mind, Spectrum will face King George in a 12:15 p.m. game and North Delta will meet Lord Byng in a 1:45 p.m. tip, both in the South Court complex.
Yet Verde is pretty sure his team is not going to want to rest after heading back to the capital city Saturday.
“We are going have Sunday off, but it might be hard to keep them out of the gym,” he said. “I know they are going to want in.”
In the Regional 8 championship final Langley Christian defeated R.E, Mountain 72-64 behind the 18 points of game MVP Carter vanderWaarde.
The rest of the re-seeded games set for Saturday:
9 a.m. — College Heights vs. Credo Christian (SC)
10:30 a.m. — Langley Christian vs. Sir Charles Tupper
12:15 p.m. — D.W. Poppy vs. Langley Fundamental
1:45 p.m. — Salish vs. R.E. Mountain
3:30 p.m. — Brookswood vs. Steveston London
5 p.m. — Aldergrove vs. Burnaby Central
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