No. 8 Unity Christian Flames 49 No.5 Credo Christian Kodiaks 37
LANGLEY — The Unity Christian Flames are not about the glitz, glam, or fashion.
The Flames play gritty, tough basketball and head coach Kyle Smiens fully embraces his team’s mentality.
“We’ve been grinding out games all year,” he said following his No. 8-seeded team’s 49-37 upset win over the No. 5 Credo Christian Kodiaks in a B.C. Single-A semifinal final played Friday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre.
“We’ve been trying to play gritty basketball this whole tournament.”
This game was a new experience for both teams, as this marks the first year Single A teams get the chance to play a portion of their B.C. championships at the Langley Events Centre.
Kodiaks Head coach Kayla Vanderhorst reflected on the amazing experience this tournament has been for her players.
“Having that video at the beginning it’s been so great,” she said. “The banquet on Tuesday, we’re very, very thankful to be here.”
Also very thankful, were the fans in attendance who witnessed an incredible performance by the Flames’ Miah Schuurman. Finishing with a game-high 36 points. Schuurman perfectly represents coach Smiens’s ‘Grit and grind’ philosophy.
You’re not going to see her taking fadeaway jump shots, or step-back three-pointers while only worrying about the offensive side of the floor. You’re going to see Schuurman play suffocating defense, force turnovers drive into the paint, and hit difficult layups.
Demi Timmerman led the way for the Kodiaks. Timmerman finished with 18 points and with help from her teammates, Alexa Leyenhorst’s 14 points had the Kodiaks within three down 36-33 heading into the fourth quarter.
With the game tight in the final frame the Flames ferocious defense helped them finally pull away. Coach Smiens had a very particular mindset on how he wanted his Flames to play on that end of the floor.
“We try to push them out of their comfort zone a little bit, as much as we can. We’re trying to force them to the left side and play hard defense.”
The Kodiaks would bring the ball up to half court where either Schuurman, Holly Vermette, or another Flames defender was waiting. They smothered whoever had the ball, stripping it away from any Kodiaks’ ball handler seemingly at will.
Grabbing the ball off those steals more times than not was Schuurman. Racing down the court while Kodiaks players chased her down, she refused to miss contested layups. Kodiaks’ defender all over her or not, the ball was going in the hoop. In a three-minute sequence, the score went from being a one-possession game to a double-digit lead.
The Kodiaks fought admirably, but that three-minute sequence was enough to propel the Flames to the win. Despite the difficult loss coach Vanderhorst was able to see the big picture of her team’s season “We basically graduated our whole starting lineup from last year. We’re starting a young team and I’m very proud of how far they’ve come.”
With the win, No.8 Unity Christian will now take on Kealanya Tupas Singh and the No. 1-ranked Pacific Christian Pacers in the Single-A championships on Saturday at 1:45 p.m.
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