PORT MOODY — Funny thing how the truly great games all seem to have that one moment which goes on to serve as its handle for future reference.
This past Saturday night, midway through the fourth quarter of the final game of the first week of the new B.C. senior boys high school basketball season, fans fortunate enough to be in the stands for the championship final of the Kodiak Classic Invitational at Heritage Woods Secondary, got to see one of those signature moments unfold in real time.
In a game of back-and-forth runs, the No. 2 -ranked Dover Bay Dolphins of Nanaimo were trying to find a stretch-drive kick to try and hold off the No. 4-ranked Oak Bay Bays of Victoria.
Oak Bay guard Marcus Kao’s steal and subsequent lay-in had pulled the Bays to within 64-57 of the Dolphins with 6:23 left.
But then just under a minute later, Dover Bay’s sublime 6-foot-7 senior guard Frank Linder slapped the ball away from the attacking Bays guard Toren Franklin before embarking in an instinctive sprint across half court in the direction of the opposition bucket.
“Toren got in front of me, then I came behind and tipped it and broke out,” recounted Linder after the game. “Then I think Joe (Linder) or maybe Hudson (Trood) passed the ball ahead of me. I had an open lane.”
Just whether that pass came from his Grade 10 point guard/brother or from his fellow 6-foot-7 senior centre wasn’t certain due to a absence of instant replay capabilities.
What was?
Linder’s eventual slam dunk gave the Dolphins a seven-point lead at 66-59, and proved in the end to be just enough to hold off a Bays’ team with two unstoppable superstars of their own in dual 6-foot-1 senior guards Franklin, and Diem Orser.
Dover Bay headed back to the Hub City on Sunday morning, and they are back at the Langley Events Centre on Wednesday as the No. 1-seeded team at the 2024 Tsumura Basketball Invitational The Dolphins will play the final game of the Super 16 opening-day draw by facing Chilliwack’s young and improving G.W. Graham Grizzlies at 7:45 p.m.
You can click HERE for the complete boys and girls TBI draws, and coaches and fans please note that the schedules now reflect a minor change which has been made in all four draws regarding the start times and gym locations for Friday’s Final Four championship round.
In hindsight, you could pin Oak Bay’s undoing at the Kodiak Classic final on the fact that they could not hold back an early 20-5 Dover Bay run, one which put the Dolphins on top 26-12.
The Bays mounted a 15-2 run between the first two quarters to pull within 28-27, and from that stage Oak Bay never took another lead, but also never trailed by more than eight.
“He’s our motor,” acknowledged Dover Bay head coach Darren Seaman of Frank Linder, who was named the tourney’s MVP and finished with a game-high 36 points. “He’s our heart and soul. He’s our character. Everything. He is a very, very special player “
After Linder’s signature dunk in the fourth quarter, both Orser. and Linder’s B.C. Under-17 teammate Franklin each shifted their games into another gear, scoring 16 of the team’s final 18 points.
Orser, in fact, drilled three straight triples to pull the Bays within 71-70 with 3:23 left but fouled out of the game soon after.
Franklin then picked up the load, scoring off a driving lay-in and via the three ball, before hitting two of three from the stripe, his final freebie with 5.5 seconds pulling the Bays to within 81-79.
Afterwards, Frank Linder paid homage to the Bays and to his friend Franklin, reflecting on the fun the two had together playing for B.C. over the summer.
The two will have more opportunities to lock horns this season as they, along with No. 1-ranked defending Quad-A champion Spectrum of Victoria battle it our for the two Vancouver Island berths to the Big Dance.
It’s a pressure packed battle royale that will leave one title contender at home to the watch the provincials. For his part, Linder isn’t fazed by expectations and increased pressure this season as his Dolphins move up to the Quad-A ranks, one season after winning it all at Triple-A.
“It’s does,” he admits of the ramp up the intensity and the anxiety that brings, but adds “I love that… it makes me work even harder. I love that. Only two of us make it off (Vancouver Island) so you have to work even harder than the other two teams. I am ready for it. Bring it on. Yeah.”
Trood scored 16 of his 17 points in the first half for the winners and his increased confidence on the court this season was apparent from the opening tip.
The same could be said for the 6-foot-3 senior guard Van Suiter, who scored 17 points, including a clutch 5-of-6 performance from the free throw line to end the game.
Joe Linder, the selfless playmaker, added 11 points on a night when only a full box score could do justice to his contributions.
Orser had 28 points for the Bays, while Franklin had 26 points. Kao added nine and Olin Lakos eight.
“I thought Dover Bay was the better team,” said Bays’ head coach Chris Franklin. “They rebounded much better than us and I thought they had a good solid game plan. So all credit to them. They deserved to win. I thought they were the vastly superior team today and if it wasn’t for Diem, it might have been quite a bit more of a win.”
Dover Bay’s Seaman’s was quick to admit that “it’s a little early to get too excited. You can’t win championships in November. It’s ‘Where will be we be in March?’”
Yet Saturday’s win was indeed part-and-parcel of the process his team has had to go through, facing new challenges as a contender at 4A after a steady build from unknown to contender to champion at 3A.
“We had to have a complete re-set,” he said. “That was last year, this is a new year and nothing gets given to your guys. So we just start over with the same process and put in the work, and hopefully we end up in that (championship) game in the 4A. That is the end goal, right? But we’ve got to get off the Island, and that is going to be really tough this year with Spectrum and Oak Bay and only two berths.”
The Tsumura Basketball Invitational, begins its four-day run on Wednesday. Featuring two 16-team draws, Friday semifinals in the Super 16 draw tip off at 6:15 and 7:45 p.m. The Select 16 semifinals will tip off at 3 and 4:45 p.m. All four games will be contested in the South Court facility.
Championship games will be played Saturday at 3 p.m. (Select 16) and 4:45 p.m. (Super 16) in the Centre Court facility.
Games will run all four days (Dec. 4-7) at the Langley Events Centre.
Check out the full draws right here at VarsityLetters.ca
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